Tales of a Muggle Studies Teacher
by islandgirl394
Summary: When their muggle studies professor retires, Hogwarts decides to try something they've never done before: hire a muggle to teach muggle studies. Katie Harris is a muggle fresh out of school and looking for a job - any job. When she applies to teach at Hogwarts, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. But maybe, just maybe, it'll be the best decision she's ever made.
1. Hogwarts School for Gifted Students

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**Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters a****nd places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, this work is my own ****and is i****n no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.**

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Chapter 1: Hogwarts School for Gifted Students

It was raining. Again. Wearily, I swung my legs around and sat up in bed, trying to ignore the pitter-patter of tiny water droplets landing on the window pane. I quickly slid my feet into my slippers and stood, drawing my robe around my shoulders before padding across the room to my desk.

It had been three weeks since graduation, yet nothing had changed. Every morning, I awoke and immediately checked to see if I'd received any e-mails or calls. After discovering my empty inbox, I would slowly make my way to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of cereal before confining myself to my couch for the morning. I would sit there for hours, watching re-runs of my favorite TV shows on Netflix, wishing I was one of my favorite characters instead of myself. Later in the afternoon, I would drag myself back to my desk and reluctantly browse every website I could think of in a search for a job – any job – that would allow me to feel like I hadn't just wasted four years of my life at university.

Anthropology – that was my major. But what use was a degree in anthropology unless you wanted to continue and get a master's degree, or even a PhD? There were no jobs for someone with only a bachelor's in anthropology. It was a useless degree – everyone had told me so. _Katie, what are you going to do with a degree in anthropology?_ My mother had asked me this back when I'd applied for the program. My answer then had been that I'd figure it out. That there'd surely be job fairs I could attend and career advisors I could talk to. Turns out they weren't as helpful as I'd have hoped.

My parents had agreed to fund my job search for one month. I had one month to find a decent job, or else I would have to move back home and beg for a job working as a cashier at the local grocery store. I'd been optimistic at the time. Surely one month was enough time to find a job. Four whole weeks; thirty whole days – that was plenty of time. But three weeks had now passed, and I was no closer to finding a job than I was on day one. I'd sent my resume out everywhere. I'd even been on a few job interviews. But nobody was interested in someone with little job experience and only a degree in anthropology to show for the last four years of her life.

Not expecting much, I logged into my e-mail account and checked my messages. There were a few promotional e-mails from stores I'd shopped at in the past. I kept meaning to unsubscribe from the mailing lists, but I never took the time to do it. Then there was an e-mail from my parents, asking how the job hunt was going. I chose to ignore that message too – I didn't feel like advertising my failure just yet. Then I scrolled down and saw a message that made my breath catch in my throat.

It was from someone named Silas Slinkhard, but that wasn't what caught my attention. What caught my attention was the subject line: _Job Interview Request._

Excitedly, I clicked on the e-mail and opened it in a new tab.

_Dear Ms. Harris,_

_We have received your application for the teaching position at our school and are extremely interested in exploring the possibility of your employment. If possible, we would like to schedule an interview to meet with you at your earliest convenience. Let us know your availability and we will send someone to meet with you._

_Sincerely,_

_Silas Slinkhard_

_Headmaster, Hogwarts School for Gifted Students_

As I read the e-mail, I became confused. Had I applied to a teaching job? And why on earth would they be interested in me? I didn't have a degree in education, or even the beginnings of an idea of how I would go about teaching a class of students. Curiously, I switched to Google and typed in _Hogwarts School_. When nothing relevant came up, I tried searching _Silas Slinkhard_, but couldn't find anyone that appeared to be the Headmaster of a school.

I wasn't about to turn my nose at such a gift though. I immediately wrote back, indicating that I was available for an interview anytime and that they only need send me a time and a place. Once that was sent, I quickly deleted all my junk mail and drafted a quick reply to my parents, telling them that I had another interview to go on. Just as I was about to close my computer and get some breakfast, another e-mail from Silas Slinkhard appeared, the subject line reading _Re: RE: Job Interview Request_.

I opened the e-mail to find only a single line of text.

_Today. Noon. Davis & Sons Coffee Shop_.

I checked my watch. It was already close to eleven.

Frantically, I jumped into the shower, knowing that this may well be my last chance to secure a job before my month of grace ran out. By the end of the week, I would no longer have the funds to stay in my apartment nor to pay for groceries or other important amenities. If this interview didn't go well… No. Thinking that wasn't even an option. The interview would go well. Teaching may not have been the job I'd envisioned for myself, but I'd take just about anything at this point to avoid having to slink back to my parents and admit defeat.

I arrived at the coffee shop with five minutes to spare. It was close to my apartment building, which was good given the extremely short notice. Nervously, I straightened my clothes and smoothed down my hair, scanning the room and then taking a seat at a table by the wall.

"Ms. Harris?" a man asked approaching. I immediately stood up and extended my hand.

"Mr. Slinkhard?" I returned.

"No, I'm afraid not," the man shook his head. "My name is Professor Longbottom. Headmaster Slinkhard sent me to interview you as he is quite busy today."

"Pleased to meet you," I said, shaking the man's hand and re-taking my seat. I wondered why Headmaster Slinkhard had been so eager to schedule the interview today when he wasn't even available.

"Shall we get started?" Professor Longbottom asked, taking his own seat. I noticed that he hadn't brought anything with him and puzzled at that. It was already pretty unusual that we were conducting a job interview in a coffee shop, but shouldn't he have brought something with him? Papers, of some sort at least?

"By all means," I nodded.

"Very well," he nodded. "Now you are aware of course, that Hogwarts is a rather… special school?"

"I admit," I said, "I don't know much about it. I tried to find a website or something online, but nothing came up."

"No," Professor Longbottom shook his head. "It wouldn't."

I frowned, not sure what he meant by it, but chose to wait for him to continue.

"Hogwarts is a school for special children. Children with… special abilities. They are hand-picked and invited to enroll. As such, we also value privacy above all else," Professor Longbottom said.

"Of course," I nodded.

"Only after you choose whether to accept this job can I reveal the specific details of the job to you," Professor Longbottom continued. "And even then, only after you've promised to sign a confidentiality agreement."

"How am I supposed to decide whether or not to take the job unless I know what the job is?" I wondered.

"Well as I'm sure you know, you are being offered a teaching position," Professor Longbottom replied.

"Yes," I nodded. "I don't have a teaching degree."

"That is of no concern to us," Professor Longbottom shook his head. "None of our teachers do."

"Alright," I said, a little unsure, but allowing him to go on.

"The school consists of students from age eleven to age eighteen," Professor Longbottom continued. "You would be responsible for teaching five classes, one class per year starting with the third years. The course you'd be teaching is an elective class, so you wouldn't be teaching all our students, and only students particularly interested in the subject."

"What is the nature of the class I'd be teaching?" I wondered.

"It's a class about human culture, to put it simply. You would of course have access to your predecessor's notes, as well as a series of textbooks on the subject to help you to design a lesson plan. Rest assured though, that any content you would be teaching would be entirely familiar to you," Professor Longbottom said.

"Human culture…" I mused to myself. It sounded a bit like I'd be teaching a class on anthropology. No wonder they'd been interested in me for the position.

"Hogwarts is also a boarding school," Professor Longbottom continued.

"A boarding school?" I asked in surprise. This I hadn't been expecting.

"That's right," Professor Longbottom nodded. "If you agree to take the position, you will of course be agreeing to live at the school for the majority of the year."

"Would my family and friends be allowed to come and visit me there?" I wondered.

"No," Professor Longbottom shook his head. "Due to the aforementioned issue of privacy, we do not allow outsiders onto school grounds. However, arrangements can be made for you to leave on occasion to visit with them, provided you keep our confidentiality in mind."

"What about holidays?" I asked. "Will I be expected to stay at the school during holidays?"

"You will be given a choice between the Christmas holidays and the Easter holidays," Professor Longbottom replied. "Since many students elect to remain at the school during the holidays, we do need there to be teachers to supervise."

I nodded. It made sense. I just wasn't sure if I was ready to give up so much of my life to this job.

"There is something else you should be made aware of," Professor Longbottom said. "We do not allow technological devices on school grounds. That goes for teachers and students alike."

I gaped. No technology? That meant no phone, no computer, no tablet, no iPod… How would I communicate with my family?

"Are there phones or computers there that I can use?" I wondered.

"No," Professor Longbottom shook his head. "We are a little old-fashioned in that respect. If you choose to take the position, the only method of communication you'll have will be through the postage system."

I sat back, a little stunned. "And people are alright with that?" I asked. "What about you? You have no problem having your phone taken away when you go to work?"

"I actually don't own a phone," Professor Longbottom admitted. "Most of us don't. And once you're there, I'm sure you'll find that you have no real need of one. Our postage system is extremely fast. In fact, you can even receive replies to letters the same day you send them, depending on the distance."

"Impressive," I allowed. Though I hated the thought of giving up my phone, or my computer, knowing that I could communicate with my family and friends that quickly was reassuring. It wasn't like I had that many friends to begin with anyway, and I didn't talk to my parents every day either.

"Before we go any further," Professor Longbottom said, "I need to know… are you considering taking the position, or have you already made up your mind that it's too much?"

I took a moment to think about it. Though it sounded like I would be giving a lot up – not only my phone and computer, but also most of my time and freedom if I was going to be living at the school – it also sounded like quite the adventure. Not to mention, I really needed a job.

"How big of a commitment do you need?" I asked in return. "Because I can't sign away the next ten years of my life to a job I know almost nothing about."

"A one-year commitment is all we ask at this time," Professor Longbottom replied. "If you commit to teach for one academic year, and sign the confidentiality agreement, then we can get into the specifics. After the year is up, it's your decision whether you want to sign another contract or simply move on with your life."

"One year?" I repeated, mulling it over. One year really wasn't so long. Lots of people I knew took a year off after graduation to go on grand adventures around the world. I couldn't afford the kind of grand adventures some of my friends had taken – like travelling through Europe and Asia for example. But this – this could be my big adventure. "Yes," I decided. "I suppose I am considering it."

"Excellent," Professor Longbottom said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out two documents, placing them on the table in front of me. "This is the contract," he pointed to the one on the left. "It outlines details including salary, working hours, and a general idea of the duties and responsibilities you would have to perform as well as a teacher's code of conduct."

I skimmed the contract and nodded to indicate that everything looked fair. Of course, I wouldn't sign it before reading it a little more carefully, but so far it seemed reasonable.

"This one," Professor Longbottom said, sliding the second document closer to me, "is the confidentiality agreement."

I turned my attention to the document on the right, picking it up as I read it. It was pretty intense. If I signed the document, I would be prohibited from sharing any information about the school or its students with anyone outside what was called the 'school community'. The document was also very clear about what it meant by 'any information' – basically if I told anyone anything more than that I was a teacher at a boarding school for gifted students, then I would be in big trouble.

"Are you sure this is completely necessary?" I frowned.

"Yes," Professor Longbottom nodded. "If you sign it, you'll discover why we have to be so strict about it. If you choose not to sign it… well… you don't know anything anyway."

"Can you at least promise me that none of this is illegal?" I asked.

"I promise," Professor Longbottom said. "Nothing here is illegal. If you would feel more comfortable, we can add in a clause stipulating that you are exempt from the confidentiality agreement in the event that keeping it would force you to break the law."

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," I shook my head. Just hearing him say it made me sure that the job was legit – or at least, as legit as a job could be when you couldn't know anything about it until you'd taken it.

I took a deep breath as I considered everything. Taking this job made no sense. No sane person would do it. If I were being rational, I'd politely decline the job, return to my apartment, and continue my job search. But I only had a week left before my parents would cut me off, forcing me to move back home. Chances were I wasn't going to get another job opportunity before that happened. And I really didn't want to have to go home with my tail between my legs. Plus, this job – well I was intrigued. If I went home now, I would forever wonder what could have been. I would always wonder about the mystery of Hogwarts School and Professor Longbottom and Headmaster Slinkhard. I would probably always regret not taking the chance when I had it.

"When do I start?" I asked.


	2. Magic

Chapter 2: Magic

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. I informed my parents that I'd taken a job, and they were overjoyed. Dad was a little surprised that I'd been offered a teaching position, but since I wasn't allowed to talk about it, he couldn't pester me too much. Professor Longbottom had promised that after I signed the confidentiality agreement, I would learn more about the job, but that had yet to happen.

Before I could leave for boarding school, I'd had to deal with my apartment and my belongings. There were the things I'd be taking with me – my books and my clothes and such. Then there were the things I'd be putting into storage – my furniture and other household objects mostly. Finally, there were the things that I'd be leaving with my parents for safekeeping – my phone, my computer, my iPod – all the things I wasn't allowed to bring with me. Professor Longbottom had assured me that once at Hogwarts, I'd hardly miss them. I could only hope he was right.

Finally, my first day arrived. I was meeting Professor Longbottom at the same coffee shop where we'd had my interview. It was strange, that he hadn't simply given me the address of the school. But I figured it was simply part of the whole secrecy/privacy thing and hoped that some of my questions would be answered today.

I said goodbye to Mom and Dad early and hurried to the coffee shop, dragging all my luggage along with me.

"Ah, Ms. Harris, right on time," Professor Longbottom smiled.

"Didn't want to be late on my first day," I shrugged.

"Indeed not," Professor Longbottom nodded. "Shall we?"

I nodded and followed the Professor out of the coffee shop and down the street.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," Professor Longbottom said, leading me further and further away from the commercial part of town. "Here, I think this is far enough."

"Far enough for what?" I frowned.

"You're going to need to make sure that you're holding onto all your luggage," Professor Longbottom instructed.

"Why?" I asked in confusion. "What are we doing?"

Instead of answering me, Professor Longbottom grasped my shoulder tightly.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Ready for what?" I returned. "I'm holding all my luggage if that's what you mean, but I don't under – "

I wasn't able to finish my sentence because I suddenly had the overwhelming feeling that I was being squished and squeezed and stretched and spun around and flipped upside down all at the same time. I couldn't see, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. I couldn't tell if it lasted seconds or hours, but finally it was over and I felt myself falling to the ground in shock.

"What just happened?" I asked, trying to pick myself up, but discovering that I was too dizzy to keep my balance. "Where are we?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I realized that the large buildings that had surrounded us moments ago had been replaced by a lush green countryside. "What's going on?"

"You've just Apparated," Professor Longbottom informed me.

"Apparated?" I asked, not recognizing the term.

"I believe the term you would use is teleported," Professor Longbottom clarified.

"Tele – what?" I asked as my rational mind refused to believe it.

"Teleported," Professor Longbottom repeated. "I'm sure you're familiar with that term."

"I am," I admitted, finally regaining my balance. "But it's just – that's impossible."

"I suggest you let go of the notion of impossible from here on out," Professor Longbottom advised. "Or else this day is going to be very difficult on the both of us."

I didn't know what to say to this. Was this what he'd meant by making me sign the confidentiality agreement? Was teleportation – or apparating – the thing that made the students and teachers at Hogwarts so special? Or was there more still to come?

"Come along," Professor Longbottom sighed. "Let's get to the castle before Headmaster Slinkhard sends Filch out after us."

"Castle?" I inquired as he took some of my luggage to lighten my load and led me along the path.

"Yes, did I never mention that?" Professor Longbottom wondered. "Hogwarts School is inside a castle."

I was starting to feel like I might faint. "No," I replied. "No, you never mentioned that."

"Huh," Professor Longbottom shrugged, as if this were no big deal. "Well it is."

As we neared the school, I pelted Professor Longbottom with question after question, all of which he adamantly refused to answer. I wanted to know more about the castle, about the school, about the students, and especially about the teleporting. Professor Longbottom simply told me that all would be revealed shortly.

As we got closer, I began to catch sight of the castle. It was not what I was expecting. It was crumbling in most places and appeared to have at least three towers completely blown off. As we approached, bits of stone crumbled and fell from higher up, landing and cracking on the ground below. The door on the front entrance was off its hinge and above the entrance was a big red sign that read _DANGER: DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE_.

"Professor Longbottom," I frowned. "Should we really be going up there?"

"Don't worry about it," Professor Longbottom assured me. "Just a few more steps and you'll see."

"No," I frowned, stopping in my tracks and taking a step back. "No, this isn't right. I won't have you taking me up into a condemned building. I didn't sign up for this. It could be really dangerous in there."

"I assure you, it's not," Professor Longbottom said. "If you'll just come closer, you'll see."

"I don't need to come any closer," I insisted. "I can see perfectly well from here that no human should be going anywhere near that death trap."

"Look, I promise I won't force you to go into the castle unless you choose to," Professor Longbottom said. "But you do need to take a closer look."

I sighed. "Fine," I said. Though every fiber of my being was telling me this was a bad idea, I took a step forward and then another and another. "How much closer do I need to get before – ohhh," I paused and watched in awe as the crumbling old building suddenly transformed before my eyes into a glorious castle towering above us, strong and sturdy. "But – how did – ?"

"You've passed through the muggle-repelling barrier," Professor Longbottom said by way of explanation.

"Muggle what?" I frowned.

"It's a magical barrier," Professor Longbottom clarified for me. "To prevent muggles – non-magical people – from finding the school."

"Magic," I repeated, dumbstruck. Though I'd started to suspect something similar when the whole teleportation thing had happened, I hadn't wanted to believe it. I'd told myself that this was probably a school for really advanced scientific minds and that they had invented some kind of teleportation mechanism. Only, Professor Longbottom hadn't had any such mechanism. And the school prohibited technology.

"Magic," Professor Longbottom nodded. "That's our secret. Hogwarts is a school of magic."

"You mean to say… you teach it here?" I asked. "Magic?"

"That's right," Professor Longbottom nodded. "In all it's different forms – charms, potions, defensive magic, transfiguration. I myself teach herbology, which is the study of magical plants."

"So what am I doing here?" I wondered. "I can't teach magic. I'm a – what did you call it?"

"A muggle," Professor Longbottom nodded.

"Right," I agreed. "I'm a muggle. So what am I doing at a school that teaches magic?"

"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, the magical world makes a point of keeping itself separate from the muggle world," Professor Longbottom explained.

"Yes I can see that," I nodded, thinking of the muggle-repelling barrier I'd had to cross. It had been exceptionally difficult. Everything in me had been telling me not to. I couldn't imagine that anybody would try to cross it, unless they had Professor Longbottom or someone else insisting that they had to.

"As a result, members of the magical community rarely have the opportunity to engage with the non-magical world," Professor Longbottom continued. "And there are a great many things besides magic that separate us. Technology, medicine, modes of transportation… even fashion trends are very different."

"So what?" I shrugged.

"So, despite our efforts to keep the magical world and the muggle world separate, there is a great deal of overlap. There are a great many jobs in the magical community that require contact with the non-magical community. In order to prepare students for such jobs, and also simply to educate them about the ways of life of a people many know little about despite living side by side with them, we offer a course here at Hogwarts which we call 'Muggle Studies'."

"Teaching students about human culture," I recalled that this was how Professor Longbottom had described the subject I would be teaching. "I'll be teaching them about my culture. Non-magical culture."

"Exactly," Professor Longbottom nodded. "You are uniquely suited for the position, given you come from the non-magical world yourself. You'll have an interesting perspective to bring to the course."

"Do you mean to say… haven't you done this before? Wasn't my predecessor a muggle as well?" I asked.

Professor Longbottom shook his head. "No," he said. "This is the first time we've brought in an outsider. You should be honored."

"Honored, right," I muttered under my breath as Professor Longbottom led the way to the doors of the castle. This whole thing was way beyond weird. I could only hope that soon, things would start making sense again.

We entered the castle and I immediately felt like I'd travelled back in time. There were torches in sconces on the walls lit with real honest-to-God fire. The walls were made of stone, and despite it being the middle of summer, I found myself just a little chilled.

"You'll get used to it soon enough," Professor Longbottom assured me. "Let me show you to your quarters."

Professor Longbottom led me up a staircase, and then around the corner to a large open area filled with staircases that seemed to stretch all the way up to heaven.

"I'm guessing there's no elevator?" I asked, only half-joking.

"The stairs aren't that bad," Professor Longbottom assured me. "You'll get used to them too. Besides, your classroom's only on the third floor, so you don't have to climb very far. When I was a student here, I was in Gryffindor, so I was all the way up on the seventh floor. And let me tell you, making that climb four or five times a day was not fun at all."

"Gryffindor?" I asked, catching the unfamiliar word.

"One of the four houses," Professor Longbottom explained. "We divide the students into houses when they arrive here, and then they eat and sleep and share common areas with other members of their houses."

"What are the other houses?" I wondered.

"Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin," Professor Longbottom replied.

"Such odd names," I commented.

"Named after the four founders of Hogwarts," Professor Longbottom informed me.

"Ah, I see," I said with a nod. I hoped I hadn't offended him by saying his school's founders had odd names.

"Here we are," Professor Longbottom said, coming to a stop in the middle of a corridor.

I looked around for a door or something, but found nothing.

"Sorry," I said, "but am I supposed to be seeing something? Is this another of those muggle-barrier things?"

"No," Professor Longbottom said. "I apologize. Of course you wouldn't be familiar with portrait doors."

"Portrait doors?" I asked.

"Indeed," Professor Longbottom gestured to a large portrait on the wall of a man reading a book. "Mr. Marshall?"

The man in the portrait looked up from his book and spoke. "Ah, hello Professor Longbottom," it said.

I almost screamed in fright. "The portrait!" I cried, pointing a finger. "It talked!"

"I most certainly did," the man in the portrait – Mr. Marshall – said. "I'm not mute after all."

"There will be a lot in this castle that you'll need to get used to," Professor Longbottom told me. "I think the best approach would be for you to assume everything is magical until proven otherwise."

I nodded. At this point, that seemed as good advice as any.

"So how do I get into my room?" I wondered.

"Mr. Marshall will take care of that," Professor Longbottom said, nodding to Mr. Marshall.

All of a sudden, the portrait swung out from the wall, revealing a hidden entrance behind it.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed.

"Mr. Marshall has been instructed to only open the door for you, unless you direct him otherwise," Professor Longbottom said. "Though I advise you to be careful about who you let in. There are many places in the castle where you can socialize with the other teachers. You'll likely want to keep your quarters just for yourself."

I nodded to indicate that I understood.

"Very well," Professor Longbottom nodded. "I will leave you to get yourself settled in and situated, and I will return at noon to bring you down for lunch."

"Thank you," I smiled. I was grateful that he'd offered to come and get me, because I had no idea where anything was in the castle and was likely to get lost. "I'll see you then."


	3. Introductions

Chapter 3: Introductions

As soon as I stepped through the portrait door, the air got significantly warmer. I was grateful. If my quarters were going to be as drafty as the castle, I'd have needed some warmer pyjamas. Slowly, I crossed my arms and looked around, taking in my new home.

There was a nice comfortable looking couch in the center of the room, which faced a wall with a crackling fireplace. The fire was lit, and I knew that someone must have known I was coming today. Behind the couch was a table on which lay a small assortment of food. The room wasn't very big and didn't contain much else, but then again, it wasn't as if I'd be entertaining any visitors.

I pulled my luggage into the room and pulled the portrait door shut behind me before exploring any further. For some reason, I'd suddenly felt exposed, having my door wide open to the castle.

On the wall to my left was a door that I could only assume would lead to my bedroom. I walked over to it and carefully pushed it open, peeking inside. The room was primarily dominated by a large four poster bed. On either side of the bed was a small table with a drawer where I could store belongings. There didn't appear to be any closet, but there was a rather large dresser on the wall to my left. Across from the dresser on my right was a rather large window. I stepped closer and discovered that the window gave me a perfect view of one of the castle's courtyards.

I looked around the room carefully, but saw no other door. Wondering where the bathroom could be, I wandered back out into the living room. I saw it now. On the far side of the wall containing the fireplace, there was another door. More confident now, and starting to consider these rooms my own, I crossed the living room and pushed the final door open.

To my surprise and relief, the bathroom included a toilet, sink, as well as a bath/shower combination. When I'd seen the torches in place of electric lights, I'd wondered if there would be running water in this castle or whether I'd be expected to fetch it from some well. Thankfully, it seemed to be the former. It wasn't the most modern of bathrooms, but it would be just fine.

I returned to the living room then and fetched my luggage. If Professor Longbottom was going to be returning for me soon, I'd like to have at least started to unpack. I wheeled my suitcase into the bedroom and carefully began to fill my dresser with my clothes and to transfer my toiletries to the bathroom. When I was done, I shoved the empty suitcases under the bed and looked around.

The space was starting to feel more like my own. I had brought some pictures from home, which I'd placed on various surfaces throughout the rooms. The book I was currently reading had been placed on the table next to the bed and I'd scattered some of my other belongings around the living room and bedroom. It wasn't home yet, but it held the promise of one.

"Professor Harris?" Mr. Marshall's voice said then, surprising me. Not only was I still getting used to the idea that magic existed, and portraits could talk, but it was the first time I'd been referred to as a professor.

I walked closer to the portrait door to discover something I hadn't noticed before – that the portrait of Mr. Marshall was on both sides of the door.

"Yes Mr. Marshall?" I responded.

"Professor Longbottom is here to see you," Mr. Marshall informed me.

"Thank you," I nodded. "You can let him in."

The portrait door swung open and I found myself once again in the company of Professor Longbottom. I was surprised to find though, that in the time he'd been gone he'd changed his clothes so that now he was dressed in a long black robe.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of uniform?" I wondered, not even bothering to say hello.

"Of sorts," Professor Longbottom replied, tilting his head. "Most witches and wizards wear robes unless they have to blend into the muggle world."

"Will I be expected to wear one?" I wondered. After all, I was a teacher here now.

"No," Professor Longbottom shook his head. "In fact, it might be beneficial for you to wear your regular clothes, as it will give your students a better idea about muggle fashions."

"Right," I nodded, wondering how I felt about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to be able to wear my own clothes. But if I was the only one doing so, I was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

"Lunch is served in the Great Hall," Professor Longbottom informed me. "Headmaster Slinkhard is most eager to meet you."

"Well then I suppose we'd better be on our way," I said, grabbing a sweater and letting the portrait door swing shut behind me.

As we made our way back to what Professor Longbottom had called the Grand Staircase, I found myself completely at a loss as to where we'd been or where we were going. It was going to take a while to get my bearings around this castle. Thankfully, I had a month to settle in and prepare before students would be arriving, as it was only the first of August.

We arrived in the same Hall we'd found ourselves in when we'd entered the castle, and Professor Longbottom gestured to the large double doors facing opposite the front doors.

"After you," Professor Longbottom said, indicating that I should go first.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and pushed my way into the dining hall – the Great Hall, Professor Longbottom had said.

"Ah, Professor Harris, I presume?" a man with grey hair and a long beard said, standing up from the head of the table. Though the room was enormous, there was only a single table in the center of it, containing no more than sixteen seats.

"Headmaster Slinkhard?" I half-greeted and half-asked. He nodded, and I stepped around the table to shake his hand. "So pleased to finally meet you," I said.

"Likewise," Headmaster Slinkhard replied. "My Deputy Headmaster has assured me that you will do a splendid job as our new Muggle Studies Professor."

"Deputy Headmaster?" I frowned, unfamiliar with this title. He looked in Professor Longbottom's direction and I realized he must mean him. Of course this made sense, and I now understood why Professor Longbottom had been authorized to interview and hire me in Headmaster Slinkhard's place.

"Allow me to introduce you to some of our other staff members," Headmaster Slinkhard said, drawing my attention to the other people in the room. "Of course, we are not all here today, but you'll meet everyone soon enough."

I nodded as he gestured to the man on his left.

"This is Professor Stern," Headmaster Slinkhard introduced me. "Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Pleased to meet you," I smiled, desperately uncomfortable under the scrutiny of everyone in the room.

"And this is Professor Flitwick," the Headmaster continued, gesturing to the next person in the row. "She teaches Charms."

The Charms Professor gave me a warm smile and I vaguely wondered if we might eventually become friends. I would need friends in a place like this.

"And of course, this is Madame Volant, our flying instructor," Headmaster Slinkhard gestured to the woman next to Professor Flitwick.

"Flying!" I cried in surprise. This caused a few around the table to chuckle and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. "Sorry," I apologized. "I'm still getting used to the whole magic thing."

"Understandable, my dear," Headmaster Slinkhard assured me, moving already to the next at the table. "And this is Madam Maxwell, the school librarian."

Madam Maxwell had a very strict look about her – she reminded me of a teacher I'd had in elementary school who'd given the whole class detention because someone had dropped their applesauce on the floor and neglected to clean it up and nobody would admit to it.

The person next to Madam Maxwell was introduced simply as Hagrid, and I couldn't tell if it was meant to be his first or his last name. Supposedly he was both the Professor of a course entitled Care of Magical Creatures as well as the school Gamekeeper – whatever that entailed. He seemed friendly enough, but what struck me most was his sheer size. He towered above everyone else and took up the space of two people at the table.

Across from Hagrid was Mr. Filch, the school's caretaker. He had a sour look in his eye and I was told that he split his duties with a man named Mr. Clarke who wasn't around right now.

Next to Mr. Filch was a woman who reminded me of my grandmother. Her name was Madam Eldridge and she apparently was responsible for running the hospital wing of the school – basically the equivalent of the school nurse. Though I wasn't sure how much she'd be able to help me, a non-magical person, if I were to get sick, she seemed like someone I would be comfortable approaching.

The woman on Madam Eldridge's other side was introduced as Professor Abbott-Longbottom.

"Longbottom?" I asked in surprise.

"My wife," Professor Longbottom said, having taken his own place at the table next to her. "She teaches potions."

I smiled at her as Headmaster Slinkhard completed his introductions.

"And of course, you've already met our Professor Longbottom, Professor of Herbology," Headmaster Slinkhard finished.

I nodded and smiled politely at Professor Longbottom.

"Well then, now that we've all been introduced, let us eat," Headmaster Slinkhard announced, clapping his hands and causing food to suddenly appear on the plates. "My dear, you may sit on my right, next to Professor Longbottom."

"Thank you," I said, taking the offered seat and sitting down to lunch.

Conversation started up almost immediately and I suddenly found myself on the outside once again. Everyone here new each other – I was the outsider. Professor Stern had drawn Headmaster Slinkhard into a conversation about relocating his classroom or making it larger. On my other side, Professor Longbottom and his wife were discussing what to buy as a birthday present for someone named Ginny, as her birthday was coming up shortly.

Not sure what else to do, I ate my lunch quietly and simply listened to the various conversations going on around me.

"So, Professor Harris, is it?" Professor Abbott-Longbottom said suddenly, causing me to turn my attention to my right.

"Yes," I nodded. "But you can just call me Katie," I offered.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom smiled. "It's so good to have you here," she said. "I'm Hannah."

"Nice to meet you Hannah," I smiled back.

"And you might as well call me Neville," Professor Longbottom added from between the two of us. "Since we're coworkers now and all."

"Alright then Neville," I said.

"So how are you settling in?" Hannah wondered. "Are your quarters to your liking?"

"Oh yes, very much," I nodded. "And much warmer than the rest of the castle."

Hannah smiled. "Yes, the house elves are very good at keeping the fires going."

"House elves?" I questioned, not sure what she meant.

"Yes, have you never met one?" Hannah wondered. "Well, I guess you wouldn't have, being a muggle."

I waited for her to go on.

"Right, well they're a kind of magical creature, rather small with pointy ears, and they assist with household duties. Hogwarts employs hundreds of them to take care of food preparation, cleaning, and laundry and such," Hannah explained.

"I see," I nodded, curious to learn more about them. "Where would I come across them?" I wondered.

"Oh, house elves aren't meant to be seen," Hannah shook her head. "They stay down in the kitchens and the laundry room during the day and only roam the castle to clean at night when all are asleep."

"Oh, right," I nodded in agreement. "So you teach potions?" I asked.

"Yes," Hannah nodded eagerly. "I've always loved brewing potions, ever since I was a student. You have to follow the recipe exactly, or else it won't turn out the way you want it to. It's all about precision."

"Sounds a lot like cooking," I noted.

Hannah frowned at this. "No," she said. "It's nothing like cooking. Not at all."

"Sorry," I apologized, feeling uncomfortable. It sounded like I'd offended her, but I didn't understand what part of what I'd said was offensive. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. It was just the closest parallel I could think of."

"Of course it was," Neville nodded, giving Hannah a look that I couldn't see. "Potions is a lot like cooking," he informed me.

"Except that even a dullard could learn to cook," Hannah muttered. "House elves can cook. It takes great skill to become a master of potions."

"I'm sure brewing potions is quite the task," I said, understanding what had Hannah upset. She'd thought I was trying to diminish her job, her skill level.

"It is," Hannah sniffed. "And actually, if you'll excuse me, I have some things I need to see to down in the potions lab."

"Of course," I nodded as she stood up. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too," she replied. "Neville, don't forget, I need those spiky bush thorns within the hour if I want to finish brewing that potion tonight."

"Of course," Neville agreed, rising to his feet as well. "I'll go and get them now. See you later Katie."

"Bye," I waved sadly as Hannah and Neville walked away.

I'd had the chance to make a friend of Hannah and instead had only made her hate me. And now Neville too seemed unlikely to be a potential friend, though we'd been getting along well enough until now. I could only hope that this wouldn't prove fatal – I wouldn't survive in this castle if all its staff members disliked me. I sighed. I'd been here mere hours and already had made a mess of things.


	4. Skye Volant

Chapter 4: Skye Volant

After lunch, Headmaster Slinkhard took me up to his office to go over some paperwork as well as some specifics that I hadn't had the chance to discuss with Professor Longbottom – Neville.

"So… about the course itself?" I asked, after all the paperwork was taken care of. "I'm still not entirely sure what sort of material I'm supposed to be teaching."

"Ah yes!" Headmaster Slinkhard nodded. "Well let me take you down to your office and you can take a look at Professor Carborough's notes."

I agreed readily and stood, allowing Headmaster Slinkhard to pass before following him out of the office and down the stairs, back out into the corridor.

"Don't worry," Headmaster Slinkhard said when he noticed me trying to locate recognizable features of the castle to orient myself. "You'll get used to the layout of the castle soon enough. It's simpler than you'd think. For now, the portraits will be more than happy to give you directions."

I nodded, still getting used to the idea of talking portraits. Not to mention moving stairs, which I'd first encountered on my way up to the Headmaster's office. It had near frightened me to death when suddenly, the ground under me had started rumbling and I found myself hurling through the air. Headmaster Slinkhard and I had had to take a different route to his office after that.

"Here we are," Headmaster Slinkhard announced, arriving at a plain wooden door at the end of a corridor. "Your classroom."

"My classroom," I nodded. "Right." Because I was a teacher now. Of course I'd need a classroom.

Headmaster Slinkhard made no move to go inside, so I took the initiative, turning the knob and pushing the door open – at least this door didn't require that I converse with a portrait to get inside.

The room was just as I'd imagined it would be. Rows of desks with chairs behind them lined up and facing the front of the room where there was a rather large desk with a chair, and a blackboard behind it. I supposed there would be no modern technology to help me with my lesson plans. No powerpoint presentations or even an overhead projector. It would be plain old chalk on a blackboard for me.

"It's lovely," I said, looking around at the bare walls. Save for the furniture, the room was completely empty of anything at all.

"You may of course purchase supplies and the like for the class if you so choose," Headmaster Slinkhard informed me. "Your budget should be outlined in your welcome package and you should feel free to use that however you choose."

I nodded. I would definitely be putting some of that money towards brightening the room up a bit.

"If you would like your students to purchase a textbook, you'll need to put in the request by the end of the week," Headmaster Slinkhard added. "I've delayed sending out the booklists during our search for a new Muggle Studies Professor, but I can't delay it much longer."

I nodded, doubtful that I would use a textbook. I'd never been overly fond of them myself and had always preferred when my teachers had followed their own curriculum instead of trying to conform to someone else's.

"And of course your office is just through there," Headmaster Slinkhard pointed to a door on the right hand side of the room. "If you need anything else, you know where to find me," he added. "Dinner will be served at six."

I nodded and thanked the Headmaster again and then waited for him to leave before blowing out a breath and sagging into a nearby chair. This was all so overwhelming. How did they expect me to just adapt to all this with almost no warning.

When I'd first arrived, I'd been in such shock that I hadn't really had the time to process everything I'd seen and been told. But now that the shock was wearing off, I felt a little numb. This morning, magic was the myth of fairy tales. Flying was something that only birds and planes and certain insects could accomplish. Teleportation had been science fiction and pictures couldn't move or talk unless they were on a screen.

"What am I doing here?" I muttered to myself, looking around at the cold stone walls of my classroom. I noticed a window on the left side wall and hurried over to it, opening the shutters and letting in the warm outside air. If the castle was this cold in the summertime, I worried about what it would be like come winter.

I looked out to discover that unlike the window in my quarters, this window was on the outside of the castle and overlooked the school grounds. I could see Hagrid in the distance pushing around a wheelbarrow full of something or other and I watched him until he disappeared into the forest that extended beyond the grounds.

I'd been told that I shouldn't go near the forest. I'd thought at first that it was simply forbidden to all, but now I wondered if it was only me that was banned. Who knew what kinds of magical dangers could be lurking in a dark forest, after all. And I was unprotected from any magical threat – I had no magic of my own I could use against anything I might meet in there. Though the rule was obviously in place for my safety, I found myself resenting it. It was simply one more thing among so many others that separated me from the rest of my colleagues. I'd seen the way some of them had looked at me at lunch. Professor Stern had even wrinkled his nose in my direction at some point. I was the outsider here. I was in their territory. And I had no idea what I was doing.

KkKkKkKkKkK

My office was a disaster. When I'd finally worked up the nerve to take a look inside, I'd wanted to slam the door and run away. The desk was piled high with sheets of paper and books and the floor was littered with scraps. The man that had taught this subject before me had clearly been highly unorganized and hadn't bothered to leave me with any coherent notes.

Knowing that the only way forward was to start somewhere, I started sifting through the scraps on the floor, identifying most of them as garbage and throwing them into the wastepaper basket in the corner. Some looked like they might be useful, and so I kept them. Others were unintelligible or made no sense to me, so I set them aside for later, in case I discovered their meaning later on.

Next I tackled the desk. I quickly realized that the papers on the top of the stacks were the previous year's final exams. I carefully sorted through these and kept two from each of the five levels I would be teaching so that I could read them over and get a sense of the kind of questions I could ask in an exam situation. Furthermore, I kept both the highest and lowest grade from each year so that I could get a sense of the range of my students' knowledge.

After placing those aside and tossing away the rest, I found the five class lists with the names of all the students, as well as their grades on each assignment from the previous year and a final grade at the end. What I was most interested with here was seeing the final grades the students had received. These would have to be my starting point with each of them – my only way of knowing how well they had grasped the material so far.

After this were scores and scores of notes, some more formal and some just scribbled one-liners that I found exceptionally hard to decipher. I took the notes one document at a time, taking in all the information and trying to decide how to condense it all. Finally, I produced my pen from my pocket – I never went anywhere without a pen – and started making notes of my own on top of Professor Carborough's.

Some of the material in the Professor's notes were things I'd expected to come across. He'd taught units on electricity and technology, on transportation, on fashion, on medicine, even on government structures. There were some surprises as well. I hadn't been expecting that I'd need to teach students about pets, or about money, and certainly not about games like jump rope or hangman. There were also some parts of the Professor's notes that were a little off, or else completely untrue. Professor Carborough's understanding of social media was quite skewed for example, and it wasn't true that the Christmas song _O Christmas Tree_ was sung by a cult of Christmas tree worshippers.

Most shocking of all was the section of Professor Carborough's notes on muggle beliefs and cosmology. Among some other topics, the course covered topics like religion and atheism, magic and fortune tellers, monsters and horror movies, and even fairy tales, claiming that these were all things that muggles had come up with to deal with the absence of magic in their lives.

Before I knew it, I checked the time and saw that it was already quarter to six. I remembered that Headmaster Slinkhard had said that dinner was served at six, and I didn't want to be late, so I hurriedly placed the notes in a semi-organized manner for when I returned and hurried back out into the corridor.

I wasn't one hundred percent sure about the route back to the Great Hall, but I knew it was down on the main level, so I figured as long as I followed the stairs downward, I would somehow reach it. I vaguely remembered that Headmaster Slinkhard and I had made a left on the way to my classroom, so at the end of the corridor I made a right and was relieved when I found myself in the Grand Staircase once again.

Praying that the stairs wouldn't move this time around, I hurried down and soon found myself emerging on the main level, exceptionally proud of my accomplishment. I hastened into the Great Hall, glad that I wasn't late, and took an empty place at the end of the table – the place I had sat at during lunch was currently taken by Professor Flitwick, so I figured there was no assigned seating.

"Professor Harris, right?" the lady on my right said as the food appeared and I eagerly started eating rapidly, not having realized how hungry I'd gotten. She was young, not much older than me, I would guess, and had a friendly face.

"Just Katie's fine," I smiled, covering my mouth as I was still chewing a bit. "Sorry, but I don't remember your name."

"Skye Volant," she replied. "But Skye's fine."

"You teach flying," I recalled.

"That's right," Skye smiled. "I was a professional Quidditch player for a few years out of school, but there was an accident and well… now I teach."

"What's Quidditch?" I wondered.

"It's our sport," Skye explained. "It's played on brooms. You'll have to come to a match once term starts. You never forget your first game."

"Yes, I'll definitely be interested to see that," I agreed.

"So what about you?" Skye wondered. "How're things coming along in Muggle Studies?"

"Well," I hesitated. "It looks like I'm going to have to completely revise Professor Carborough's syllabus. It's a complete mess. No flow to it whatsoever. It's a wonder his students ever had a clue what he was talking about, jumping from electricity straight to dogs as pets from one day to the next."

"I never did like John," Skye muttered. "Always strutting around the castle like he owned the place. Just because he's been here one of the longest."

"How long had he been teaching here?" I wondered.

"He started just after the war," Skye informed me. "After the Carrows left, he took over and he'd been teaching here ever since."

"The war?" I asked with a frown. There'd been no war recently that I knew of.

"It was a wizarding war," Skye clarified. "You wouldn't have even known it was happening. Don't worry though, the wizarding world's been peaceful for years, ever since the last of the Death Eaters were rounded up."

I decided not to ask what a Death Eater was. From the sound of it, the answer wouldn't be pleasant.

"Well anyway, I'm quite excited to be here," I said honestly.

"Good," Skye smiled. "We're happy to have you here. At least I am."

"Yeah, I don't get the feeling everyone's thrilled to have a muggle working here," I said, making a face.

"Oh I'm sure it's not that," Skye insisted.

"Well Professor Abbott-Longbottom – Hannah – I didn't mean to offend her, but I think she took something I said the wrong way…"

"Hannah Abbott-Longbottom is just an elitist snob," Skye sniffed.

Gaping, I looked around to see if anyone else had heard Skye's rude comment.

"Skye, you can't just say things like that!" I cried.

"Nobody's listening to us anyway," Skye assured me. "I'm just the flying instructor."

"I take it you and Hannah don't get along?" I asked.

Skye shook her head but didn't elaborate. I chose not to prod for more information. If Skye wasn't ready to share, I wasn't going to force her. We'd only just met after all.

"What about the others?" I asked. So far, I'd only really met Hannah, Neville, Skye, and Headmaster Slinkhard. But there were loads of other people around the table that I knew nothing about.

"Well Tessa – Professor Flitwick, that's her over by Hannah – she and Hannah are basically best friends. If you're on Hannah's bad side, you're probably already on Tessa's bad side.

"Great," I muttered. Now I had two people that hated me.

"And you already know Neville," Skye continued. I nodded. "Then there's Mark Stern – he's the one with the sour look on his face talking to Headmaster Slinkhard."

I looked in the direction she was pointing and recognized Mark Stern as the one who taught defensive magic – the one who's looked on me with disdain from the beginning.

"I don't think he likes me much either," I said.

"It's not you," Skye said. "I mean, he doesn't really like anyone much, but his bad mood has nothing to do with your arrival. He's been lobbying for a larger classroom for weeks now and Headmaster Slinkhard won't give it to him."

"I see," I nodded.

"He's rough around the edges, but he's an alright guy," Skye said. "Doesn't socialize with the rest of us all that much."

"What about the rest of them?" I asked. I wanted to get a feel for the people I'd be working with – and living with – for the next year. Apart from my one holiday and occasional weekend trips to visit my family, these would be the only adults around to spend time with. I was hoping at least some of them might end up being friends.

"Well there's Filch," Skye said, pointing to a man who was currently sitting alone and feeding bits of food off his plate to a cat sitting by his ankles. "And the cat's name is Mrs. Norris. Don't mess with the cat unless you want him to come after you."

I took a minute to look at the man. He was quite old and wrinkled, his hair was grey, and his movements were slow. He looked like someone who'd been through a lot in life.

"And he's the caretaker?" I frowned.

Skye nodded. "The elves really do the cleaning. And Mr. Clarke takes care of the after-hours patrolling. Honestly, at this point, Filch's position here is mostly just for show. He's worked here all his life, doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"So what does he do?" I wondered.

"Mostly wanders the castle in the hopes of catching students breaking the rules," Skye replied. "He's a bitter old man who likes seeing people get into trouble. If I were you, I'd steer clear. I wouldn't put it past him to try to land you in detention too."

I almost chuckled until I realized Skye was serious. "Okay, steer clear of Filch," I nodded. I moved on to the next person, the very large man who's name I recalled was Hagrid. "What about him? What's his story?"

"Hagrid teaches care of magical creatures," Skye replied. "And he's also the gamekeeper."

"What does that mean?" I wondered.

"He takes care of the grounds, does a lot of the manual labour around here. I mean, it's obvious why we'd choose him, he's huge. Lifting a tree is nothing to him," Skye replied.

"About the size…" I trailed off, unsure if asking the question I wanted to ask would be considered rude or not. I was still so unfamiliar with the customs here, and I didn't want to offend anyone, especially Skye. Not after what happened with Hannah at lunch.

"Rumour has it he's a half-giant," Skye whispered. "But it's not something we really talk about."

"Giant?" I gaped, shocked that anything could surprise me at this point. "There are giants?"

"Of course," Skye nodded. "And dragons, and werewolves, and goblins. Chances are if it's part of any kind of myth or legend you've ever heard of in the muggle world, it's real in the magical world."

I nodded, head still spinning at the idea of giants. I was just glad I was working at a school, where the likelihood of meeting these kinds of things – beings? – was limited.

"And lastly, there's Agatha and Martha," Skye gestured to the two older women in conversation nearby. "Agatha Maxwell is the librarian and Martha Eldridge runs the hospital wing."

I nodded, recalling the same introductions from this morning.

"Agatha's great, as long as you respect her books. You'll probably want to go down to the library someday soon and have her show you through the muggle studies section," Skye suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be good," I agreed. Reading some books might be more helpful than trying to decipher my predecessor's notes.

"And Martha's a sweetheart," Skye continued. "You'll have no problems with her, she likes everyone."

"Well that's a relief," I said gratefully. At least that was one person I didn't have to worry about impressing.

Having run through everyone present, Skye started describing the other teachers who weren't currently in the castle. I tried to pay attention, but without a face to match the names to, I found myself losing track of the conversation. Instead, I glanced around the table again, taking in the faces of the people that were currently here.

Hannah and Tessa – I would have to work to earn their favor. Neville I was already on good terms with, and Skye seemed to like me well enough. Hagrid seemed like he'd be easy to get along with, as did Martha from the hospital wing. I was a little more worried about Agatha from the library, but I did love books, so I might be able to bond with her over that. As for Filch and Stern, for now it seemed like they might be best avoided until I was more settled.

While my first day could have gone better, it was shaping up to be pretty decent all things considered. I wasn't drowning, despite how lost I'd felt at the beginning. Skye was already a potential friend, for which I couldn't be more grateful. And I'd gone the whole day without a phone, and I wasn't going out of my mind. That could only be a good sign.


	5. Hannah Abbott-Longbottom

Chapter 5: Hannah Abbott-Longbottom

I slept fitfully all night. I kept having strange dreams about teleporting and magic, only to awake and realize that they weren't dreams at all – they were real. The first time I awoke in the middle of the night, I had a fright, having forgotten that I was living in a castle now and not back in my old apartment.

By the time I awoke for real though, I'd shoved all my fears and worries about magic aside. I was here. This was happening. It would do me no good to shy away from magic if I was going to be living in a magical castle for at least the next year. And it would do me no good to dwell on anything. Just because I couldn't understand how it was that I was able to converse with Mr. Marshall didn't change the fact that I could. It would be easier to accept it than to try to figure it out.

As soon as breakfast was over, I found my way back to my office to continue sorting through Professor Carborough's notes. I only had a month to come up with my plan of action, and since I'd never taught before, I wasn't entirely sure where to start. After reading through all of my predecessor's notes, I was a little overwhelmed by the quantity of information and decided to sort it into categories. Anything having to do with technology would go in one category, anything having to do with medicine would go in another, and so on. Slowly, I started narrowing down the categories until I had five; Technology, Health and Wellness, Beliefs and Cosmology, Institutions and Government, and then a miscellaneous category that I named Culture and Daily Life.

I was just thinking that I might congratulate myself on accomplishing this first task by taking a walk outside and taking a proper look at the grounds when there was a knock at my door.

Curious, I rose and crossed the room to the door and pulled it open. To my surprise, Hannah was waiting on the other side, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Hi," I greeted her, wondering what she was doing here.

"Hi," she returned. "I just wanted to bring you a cup of tea and properly welcome you to our school. I fear we got off to a rocky start yesterday and I wanted to assure you that I and the rest of the teachers are simply thrilled to have you with us."

"Oh," I said, my eyebrows raising in surprise. "Thank you."

I took the tea and motioned that she should feel free to come in. I took my seat behind my desk and she pulled up a chair on the other side and sat down across from me.

"Well it certainly looks like you've got your work cut out for you," Hannah commented, gesturing to the piles and piles of papers on my desk.

"That's for sure," I nodded. "Professor Carborough did not want this to be easy on me."

"No, I suppose he wouldn't have," Hannah agreed.

I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Hannah hesitated, making a point of looking around the room in case we were overheard – which was of course absurd given that we were alone in my office. "He was fired."

"Fired?" I questioned. "I was told he'd retired."

"Well that's the official story," Hannah nodded. "But the truth is that he and Headmaster Slinkhard had a falling out, and the Headmaster insisted that he leave the school."

"Do you know what they fought about?" I asked.

"No," Hannah shook her head. "I wasn't there, I only heard about it afterwards."

"From your husband?" I wondered, starting to understand the hierarchy of power at this school.

Hannah nodded. "Anyway, you have to promise not to tell anyone," she said. "But that's probably why he didn't leave you with anything coherent. He was upset about being forced to leave. I'm surprised he didn't just pack up and take all his notes with him."

"Well I think I'm managing with what I've got here," I shrugged.

"I suppose it helps that you're so familiar with muggle culture, being a muggle yourself," Hannah commented. "Carborough grew up in a wizarding household, so all his knowledge is second-hand. I never did understand why they hired him in the first place."

"But aren't I the first muggle to take this position?" I pointed out. "What other choice would there have been?"

"Well the school could have hired a muggle-born Professor," Hannah replied.

"Muggle-born?" I questioned. "You mean to say that wizards don't all come from magical households?"

"Certainly not," Hannah replied. "Though I'm sure many would like to think that they do."

I disregarded that last comment, not sure what to make of it.

"So does that mean that… that I could have magic, maybe?" I wondered.

"No," Hannah shook her head. "Even in a muggle-born, it would have manifested itself very early on. Definitely by the time you'd have turned eleven."

"Oh," I said, just a little disappointed. For a second I'd thought that maybe – but it was only a fleeting thought.

"Say, do you have some free time?" Hannah wondered.

I nodded. "I was just thinking of going for a walk," I admitted.

"Well then you must come down to the village with me," Hannah insisted. "I need to visit the apothecary and place an order to replenish my stores before term starts."

"The village?" I wondered.

"Hogsmeade village," Hannah clarified. "It's just down the road from the school, less than an hour's walk."

"Won't we miss lunch?" I asked.

Hannah shrugged. "We can get something to eat in the village," she replied.

I frowned. "But aren't all meals mandatory?" Headmaster Slinkhard had made mealtimes very clear in my welcome packet.

"Not at all," Hannah shook her head. "We all made a point of being there and on time yesterday, because it was your first day, but normally we're free to come and go as we please. Of course, once the students have arrived things will change a bit, as we'll need to ensure there are supervisors in the Great Hall at all times."

"Of course," I nodded. "Well in that case, I'd love to go down to the village."

"Great," Hannah smiled, rising from her seat. "We'd better go down now then, because it could take awhile and I'd like to be back to check on my potions before dinner."

"What should I do with – ?" I gestured to the half-drunk cup of tea, wondering where the cup should go.

"Don't worry about it," Hannah assured me. "The house elves will clean it up when they do their rounds tonight."

"Alright," I said. This was going to be something to get used to.

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The village of Hogsmeade was like something out of a fairy tale. Cute little buildings lined the main road with a few side streets on the outskirts. And the shops had the funniest names: Dervish & Banges, Scrivenshaft's, Ceridwen's, Madam Puddifoot's… Hannah told me these were the names of the founders of the establishments and I wondered if it was normal for wizarding families to have such odd surnames.

"Here we are," Hannah said, stopping at the door of one of the smaller shops and leading me inside.

It smelled awful. Like someone had left a corpse to rot in the sun for a week and then placed it under the floorboards of the shop. Hannah didn't seem to notice the smell – or else she simply didn't care. The room was dark, despite the display window at the front. From the inside, I could see that the window was covered in grime, obscuring the light of the sun. There were no lights on the inside of the shop save for a candle on the front desk next to a bell.

It was to the front desk that Hannah went, ringing the bell and waiting for the owner of the establishment to come and assist her. While she waited, I looked around at the things on the shelves. Some seemed normal enough. The labels read _lavender sprigs _and _dried nettles_. Other containers held more peculiar items, including lethe river water and horklump juice. Then I came to one jar and almost screamed out loud when I peered closer to find the jar filled with floating eyeballs.

"You actually use these to brew potions?" I asked, a little grossed out at the thought.

"Of course," Hannah responded nonchalantly. "They're especially important when brewing antidotes, because they're one of the main ingredients in most poisons."

"Right," I nodded, taking a step back from the shelf containing the floating eyeballs.

The shopkeeper arrived then from the back and greeted us warmly.

"Ah, Hannah, so good to see you again," he said. "I was wondering when you'd be coming to place your order."

"I'm afraid I'm a little late this year," Hannah apologized. "I do hope the shipment will arrive on time."

"I'll put a rush on it," the shopkeeper offered. "No charge."

Hannah smiled at this. "That would be much appreciated," she said.

"Have you made a list of what you'll be needing?" the man inquired.

"Yes of course," Hannah nodded, reaching into her cloak and producing a sheet of paper filled with little scribbles.

The shopkeeper took it and read it over, grunting approvingly at her requests.

"That's quite a bit of syrup of arnica you've requested," he noted, pointing at one line of the order.

"Yes," Hannah nodded. "I've decided to teach the hiccoughing solution this year instead of itching potion."

"A bold choice," the shopkeeper replied. "Hogwarts curriculum has included the itching potion since before I attended, and that was some years ago."

"Yes," Hannah replied boldly. "Well the theory is the same, and most of the ingredients as well. But I felt like the hiccoughing solution was a better choice for this year's new N.E.W.T. students."

"Very well," the shopkeeper nodded, tallying up the cost of everything Hannah had requested. "Altogether that'll be fifty-six galleons, four sickles, and a knut."

"Your prices have gone up," Hannah noted.

"I'm only matching the increase in price that my suppliers are charging me," the shopkeeper replied.

Curiously, I stepped forward to watch as Hannah produced a small bag of coins and counted them out. "That's half, plus the knut," Hannah said, sliding the peculiar looking coins towards the shopkeeper. "I'll give you the rest when I come back to retrieve the order."

"Of course," the shopkeeper nodded. "I'll send word to the castle once it's arrived."

"Thanks very much," Hannah smiled, shaking the man's hand.

"Have a nice day," he called out as we left the shop.

As soon as I stepped outside, I took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"How can you stand the smell in there?" I wondered.

Hannah frowned. "Did it smell in there?" she wondered. "I didn't notice."

I let the subject go as Hannah led me to the Three Broomsticks for a bit of lunch. It was well past noon and we were both starving. Once we had some food in us, I assumed we'd be heading back up the school, but Hannah had other plans.

"I just need to make a couple more stops," she said. "It won't be long."

Since I would likely just get myself lost without her, I tagged along as Hannah visited the village cauldron shop to purchase three new cauldrons.

"Some of mine are getting old," she explained to me. "When they get old, the bottom starts disintegrating and potion can leak out onto the floor or worse."

After the cauldron shop, we visited Scrivenshaft's, where Hannah stocked up on quills and ink and the strange thick paper that all of Professor Carborough's notes were written on, which I learned was called parchment.

"Shouldn't you be picking up some supplies too?" Hannah frowned as she paid. "John can't have left you with much."

"I'm alright for now," I assured her. After all, I had brought plenty of pens and paper with me from home – that would last me quite some time.

After Scrivenshaft's, we made one final stop at a supply store where Hannah placed orders for stirring rods, scales, and other potion brewing equipment.

"To replace the broken," she explained. "I have to have a full set of equipment at each brewing station in my classroom for the students."

When Hannah was finally finished with her shopping, we made our way back to the main road up to the castle. As Hannah chattered on about her plans for re-organizing the potions classroom, I wondered if I'd misjudged the situation yesterday. I'd thought that Hannah had hated me, but maybe I'd been too quick to jump to the worst-case scenario. Yesterday had been a stressful day and a lot had happened. I'd assumed the worst, but maybe I was just being paranoid. Hannah had been perfectly nice to me today, and we'd had a lovely afternoon. Perhaps we could be friends after all.


	6. A Muggle on a Broom

Chapter 6: A Muggle on a Broom

"You coming inside?" Hannah asked when we reached the front doors of the school. She was halfway up the stairs, but I lingered at the bottom.

"I think I'm going to take a walk around the castle," I said. "Get a feel for the grounds since it's still light out."

"Alright," Hannah replied. "I'll see you at dinner."

I waved goodbye as Hannah disappeared inside the castle and then started walking around the castle.

The grounds were expansive, with the large forest to one side, a glistening lake to another, and rocky mountains to a third. I passed by the greenhouses and casually waved at Neville as I saw him passing from one to another. I caught sight of Hagrid down by the forest again, carrying something large in his arms. As I rounded another corner of the castle, I caught sight of something that looked like a stadium, except that I'd never seen one with three large hoops on each side so far in the air.

Wondering if this was what Skye had called a Quidditch pitch, I ventured closer.

As I approached, I realized there was something in the air, circling round and round the enclosure. At first I thought maybe a bird, but the closer I got the clearer it became. It was a person. A person riding a broomstick.

I made my way into the stands and sat on a wooden bench, watching as Skye flew round and round, making sharp turns and even plunging to the ground on occasion, pulling up at the last second before hitting the ground. Eventually, I recognized that she was in pursuit of something: a little winged ball that moved as fast as she did and zoomed every which way around the pitch. It appeared that Skye was trying to catch it, though for what purpose I couldn't imagine.

Finally, she was victorious, her hand closing around the little golden ball. She slowly flew to the ground and dismounted, turning to me with a grin on her face.

"Enjoy the show?" she asked.

"I've never seen anything like it," I confessed. "What was it you were doing?"

"I was seeking," Skye explained.

"Does that have anything to do with Quidditch?" I wondered.

Skye laughed. "It does," she nodded. "Seeker is one of the positions a person can play. Each team has three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker."

"Were you a Seeker?" I asked.

Skye nodded. "It's the Seeker's job to catch the snitch before the other team's Seeker. Catching it is what ends the game."

"And the snitch – it's that little golden ball you're holding?" I asked, gesturing to her hand.

"Yup," Skye nodded. "It's also worth a hundred and fifty points for the team that catches it."

"That's a lot of points," I noted, thinking of sports I was familiar with and how long it would take to amass a hundred and fifty points.

"Do you want to give it a go?" Skye offered.

"What, seeking?" I asked in shock. "I don't think I – "

Skye laughed. "Not seeking," she shook her head. "Flying."

I frowned. "Is that even possible? I'm not a witch. I don't have any magic."

"No," Skye agreed. "But I do."

I grinned, understanding what she meant. She was offering to take me up on a broom.

"In that case, yeah," I said excitedly, hurrying down to the pitch to join her.

"Okay, so I have to be at the front," Skye informed me as we positioned ourselves. "Because you don't know how to steer and it's likely you'd crash us. Make sure you hold on tight."

I nodded my understanding and swung a leg over the broom behind Skye, wrapping my arms around her torso and holding tight.

"Ready?" Skye asked.

"Ready," I said, suddenly filled with both nerves and excitement.

Skye kicked off from the ground and suddenly we were soaring up and away from the ground. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I felt weightless – a bit like that feeling you get when you're rising in an elevator and then it stops, and for just a second, you're floating in the air. Except this was more than a moment.

"This is amazing!" I cried, looking down to see how far up we were. Though I'd never been afraid of heights before, I'd thought I might be scared having nothing underneath me to hold me up save for a broomstick, but instead I felt exhilarated.

Skye continued to turn and to swoop, always careful not to go too fast, lest I fall off the back. When we finally touched down on the ground again, I found myself disappointed that it was over already.

"It's too bad muggles can't fly on their own," Skye commented. "But the broom's magic alone isn't enough to keep it airborne. It needs some of the witch or wizard's magic too."

"It makes sense," I said, understanding the logic behind it, even if I wished things were different. "What if a witch or wizard stumbled across a magical broom by accident and found themselves whisked into the air? They could get seriously hurt, not to mention your secret would be out."

"That's a good point," Skye agreed. "We couldn't have that."

I helped Skye put away the broom and the golden ball – the snitch – and then together we walked back up to the castle for dinner.

"So what have you been up to all day?" Skye wondered.

"Well I spent the morning buried under mountains of Professor Carborough's old notes," I revealed. "I think I'm finally starting to get them into some form of coherent order."

"Well that's good," Skye replied. "I'm sure it'll be nice to get rid of some of the clutter. I'd been to John's office from time to time and I wouldn't have wanted to be the one going through all that junk."

"It hasn't been so bad," I admitted. "It's been quite interesting actually, to see all the things that are different between our two worlds, and how mine is perceived by yours. And it kind of helps, me adjusting to your world, to see that it would be just as big an adjustment the other way around."

"Well I'm glad you're having fun at least," Skye allowed. "I just know I could never sit behind a desk all day like the rest of you. I need to be outside and active, or I'd have no reason to get out of bed in the morning."

"You really do seem to love it," I noted. "Flying I mean. And Quidditch. Seeking. If you don't mind me asking, what made you stop?"

Skye sighed and didn't answer me for a while. We were almost at the castle doors when she finally spoke. "I joined the Holyhead Harpies right out of school," she said. "They'd picked me for the team even before I graduated. I was only supposed to be on the reserve team, but their seeker found out she was pregnant right before the season started and quit. Apparently she'd been pregnant once before and had miscarried. She didn't want the strain of being a Quidditch player to make her miscarry again. So they promoted me."

"That's amazing," I said in awe. Even in my world, basketball players didn't make it to the NBA right out of high school.

"It was," Skye agreed. "And I was incredible. We made it to the semi-finals that first year, and the next year we got to the finals. By my third year on the team we would have won the whole thing if it weren't for…"

"For what?" I pressed, hoping I wasn't being too pushy.

"I should have been paying closer attention to the rest of the game," Skye said. "I should have been more aware of my surroundings. But I'd just seen the snitch and the other seeker was on the other end of the pitch and it was right there, and all I had to do was reach out my hand and take it. Victory was so close I could taste it. The rest of the world fell away. And the next thing I new I was in St. Mungo's with Healers all around me asking how I was feeling."

"St. Mungo's?" I asked.

"Our hospital," Skye clarified. "I'd been hit right in the head with a bludger. Knocked me unconscious. Then I fell about twenty stories. Thankfully the ref slowed my fall right at the end so I didn't hurt myself too badly." I didn't bother interrupting her to ask what a bludger was. Her meaning was pretty clear. "Most injuries are easily treatable in the magical world. Broken bones, cuts and scratches – I'd have been out of the hospital that very same day. Might not even have needed a hospital. But it was my brain."

"You were in a coma?" I asked.

Skye nodded. "In the muggle world, they'd have declared me brain dead," she explained. "In the magical world… well obviously they can treat it, or else I wouldn't be here today. But it takes time. When I finally woke up, it had been months. The Harpies had replaced me. I tried inquiring about seeker's positions on other teams, but the season had already started, the positions were filled. When my agent heard there was an opening at Hogwarts to teach flying… she said I should go for it. She didn't think I'd ever play again. And she was right."

"Couldn't you have tried out for a team the following season?" I asked.

"I was out of practice," Skye shrugged sadly. "I'd been out of the game for a whole year, and part of that time I was laying in a bed. There were far better candidates out there. Some of them were even students I'd mentored that year, as flying instructor."

I nodded, feeling bad for my new friend. If I'd had something like that – something that I'd loved more than anything, something I was fantastic at and passionate about – I'd be devastated to lose it.

"But I've made my peace," Skye said, changing her tone to a more positive one. "And at least I still get to fly. I still get to play Quidditch. And I get to mentor the Quidditch players of tomorrow. It's not so bad, working here."

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine," an unfamiliar voice asked as we arrived in the Entrance Hall.

"Cam!" Skye cried, running forward to give the stranger a hug. "It's so good to see you, when did you get back?"

"Just now," the man replied with a smile. "You know if I'd been back any longer I'd have come down to the pitch to see you."

Well of course you would have," Skye nodded. "You know you missed me."

The stranger rolled his eyes. "I think my time away was just enough that I'll be able to bear another year putting up with you."

Skye laughed and I coughed pointedly, hoping that she'd introduce me so that I could stop standing around like a stalker.

"Oh of course," Skye cried, pulling me forward. "Cam, this is Katie Harris, she'd the new Muggle Studies teacher."

"You're the muggle," the man said, his eyes widening in surprise.

I stiffened at this identification. Was it really _that_ big a deal that I was a muggle? Surely these people had met muggles before after all.

"That's right," I said coldly.

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong," the man apologized, shaking his head. "It's just – well we're really excited you're here, and quite interested to see what you bring to your subject."

"Well I'm sure whatever I decide to teach, it'll be unique," I said, softening. "Professor Carborough's notes while fascinating, paint a rather different picture of muggles than the one I'm familiar with."

"As we expected," the man nodded. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Cameron Moore, I teach Arithmancy."

"Arithmancy?" I asked. "What's that?"

"It's a little like divination, but with numbers," Cameron explained. "We use numbers and formulas to predict things about the future."

"I see," I said, fascinated with this unfamiliar brand of magic. "So tell me then, will I do a good job, teaching Muggle Studies?"

"Sorry," Cameron chuckled. "But the numbers can't tell us such specific things as that. For specific questions you'd need a Seer, and even then, you probably won't get a straightforward answer."

"Well it was worth asking anyway," I shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to see how it goes."

We entered the Great Hall then, and those already present made an excited fuss, welcoming Cameron back.


	7. Cameron Moore

Chapter 7: Cameron Moore

"Alright," Skye said once we were all seated and conversation was resuming around the table. "So. Tell us everything."

Cameron shrugged. "There's honestly not much to tell. It was a work trip after all."

"Oh come on, you know that's not true," Skye protested. "Cam went to France," she added to me on the side. "People don't go to France and then come back with nothing to tell."

"It's not like I was on holiday," Cameron pointed out. "I spent most of my time inside Beauxbatons in meetings."

"Beauxbatons?" I questioned.

At this point, Skye was getting used to me needing clarification in the middle of conversations and responded without a pause.

"It's a wizarding school in France," she explained.

"Oh!" I said, intrigued. I hadn't realized that there would be more wizarding schools around the world, but of course this made sense. "What were you doing there?"

"Mostly we were discussing ways our two schools could come together this year. There hasn't been much in the way of international magical cooperation between wizarding schools since the disaster in the spring of ninety-five," Cameron replied.

"What happened in ninety-five?" I wondered.

"It's… complicated," Skye said, giving me a look that said not to pry.

"Oh," I nodded. "Sure."

"So did you at least come to any sort of agreement?" Skye wondered, turning back to Cameron.

"They're talking about an exchange program," Cameron said. "Having a small group of Hogwarts students study in France for a term and then having some students from Beauxbatons come here for a term."

"And Beauxbatons is on board with that?" Skye asked in surprise. "Sending students to Hogwarts just like that? Even after… well you remember."

I didn't ask for clarification this time, knowing I wouldn't receive any. Whatever had happened, neither Skye nor Cameron were interested in talking about it. Not beyond vague references at least.

"There would be an application process, and it would require parental consent," Cameron explained. "And it would be significantly less dangerous than last time. All they'd be doing is attending classes."

"So it's definitely happening?" Skye asked.

"Not officially," Cameron shook his head. "They're still working it all out. But they need Slinkhard to sign off on it before we can move forward. He'll probably send Longbottom to deal with the specifics."

"So you're back-back then," Skye smiled. "You're not going to go off and disappear in a couple of days?"

"Oh I'm definitely back," Cameron nodded. "I've got to get my things in order before the students get here after all. I've barely had time to do anything since the end of term."

"I'm sure you'll get it all done in time," Skye assured him. "Katie's only just gotten here and she's doing fine."

"Well sure," Cameron nodded. "But at least Carborough had wrapped up last year before he left. I haven't even finished grading final exams!"

"Cameron!" Skye admonished him. "That's terrible! What if someone needed to re-take the course? They'll have missed their chance by now."

"Don't worry, I graded all the at-risk students first," Cameron assured her. "The ones I have left definitely passed, they just don't have definitive grades."

"And Slinkhard was alright with that?" Skye gaped.

"Well it was his only option if he wanted me as spokesperson at the Beauxbatons meetings," Cameron replied. "Who else was he going to send?"

"He could have sent me," Skye said, raising her chin importantly.

Cameron laughed out loud at this and I looked between the two curiously.

"Send you? To France? That would have been a disaster!" Cameron cried.

Skye frowned, indignant. "I could have gone to France. And it's not like I had exams to grade – flying exams are pretty straightforward. I grade the students on the spot. If they can fly, they pass. If they can't, they fail."

"Well sure, but just think Skye," Cameron insisted. "Sitting around in meetings all day, listening to a bunch of old guys argue about technicalities in paperwork and permits and the like. You'd have hated it. You wouldn't have gone to the meetings after a while. You'd probably have gone sightseeing and missed them all, and then you'd get all of Hogwarts in trouble."

"I just think it's unreasonable to make a person sit through hours of ministry desk workers going back and forth about the most boring stuff ever when there's a beautiful and unexplored country waiting just outside the doors," Skye said.

"And that's exactly why Headmaster Slinkhard didn't send you," Cameron said.

"Whatever," Skye said, shaking her head and changing the subject. "At least tell me you visited Paris while you were there."

"Beauxbatons isn't really that close to Paris, you know," Cameron pointed out.

"Are you a wizard or not?" Skye cried. "You have a wand! You can apparate!"

Cameron shrugged. "I'll go someday I'm sure."

"But you were _there_," Skye insisted. "How could you just pass it up?"

"I guess I had other things on my mind," Cameron said.

Skye shook her head again, disbelieving. "I can't even… you are so frustrating sometimes," she said. "How can you just – ? Ugh!"

"Well enough about me," Cameron said. "How have you been these past weeks?"

"Fine," Skye shrugged. "It's been pretty boring. I had to do a lot of paperwork – submit all the paperwork for the flying licenses. It's always my least favorite part of the job."

"Flying licenses?" I asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. "You mean to say you have to be licensed to be allowed to fly?"

"That's right," Skye nodded. "Can't have inexperienced fliers everywhere, it could cause a lot of accidents. And every year I have to submit the names of the students who have passed my course to get their licenses issued. It's quite the hassle, really."

"So, are there like, wizard police that patrol the skies and stop people when they're say… flying too fast or something, and confiscate their license?" I wondered, comparing flying to driving a car in the muggle world.

Skye frowned. "No," she said. "Why would we do that? There's no speed limit when you're flying. Not to mention that would be a waste of manpower, having police just flying around in the air all day."

"Oh," I nodded. "Right, of course." For some reason, I found myself feeling stupid for asking. Skye must think I'm completely brainless by now. "Well, I should probably be on my way," I said, pushing my plate away from me. I'd eaten my fill and didn't really feel like sticking around any more.

"Oh, no, please stay!" Skye insisted. "We haven't even had dessert yet!"

"No, really, I'm tired," I lied. "I think I'm going to turn in early."

"You'll want to get your rest now," Cameron grinned. "Because once the students are here, you'll be patrolling every other night."

I nodded and politely said goodbye, making my way out of the Great Hall and sighing in relief when the doors closed behind me.

It had been a long day. There was so much I didn't know here. So much I'd never seen. I felt like I was a character in a movie, who gets plucked out of her regular life and put in some crazy situation. I'd taken this job looking for an adventure, but I wasn't sure I wanted adventure anymore. I missed my old life. I missed my apartment, and my bed. I missed being able to curl up and watch Netflix with a mug of hot chocolate. I couldn't do that here. Not with the technology ban. According to Hannah, the magic that surrounded Hogwarts prevented technological devices from working. But I wondered if this was even true, or whether they'd simply made it up to keep me isolated from the outside world.

Professor Longbottom had mentioned that there was a postage system here that I could use though. It wasn't as though they were completely cutting me off from my old life. Suddenly, I felt the need to write to my parents, to tell them I was doing alright. Though I'd told them not to expect a letter for at least a week, I needed to reach out to them. Even just to know that there was a letter out there would bring me comfort.

I made my way back to my quarters and retrieved a sheet of loose-leaf and a pen and set about to writing my letter. It was difficult, figuring out what to write and how to phrase things. I couldn't mention anything regarding magic of course. I'd signed the confidentiality agreement, and I would be in big trouble if I broke it.

I decided to be as vague as possible when writing about the details of my job, simply writing that my predecessor had left me with a lot of confusing material and that I was spending most of my time sorting through it. I wrote about Skye, and how nice she'd been to me since I'd been here. I wrote about Hannah, and how she seemed nice too. Finally, I signed the letter, folded it up, and tucked it in an envelope, putting their address on the front and leaving the return address blank. I would have to ask Neville about this.

I emerged from my room into the hallway and found myself unsure how to proceed. I needed to locate Neville to ask him about the return address and where to find the mailbox. But I had no idea where to find him. I recalled that he'd encouraged me to ask the portraits on the walls for directions, so I turned back to Mr. Marshall and inquired, "where can I find Professor Longbottom's office?"

"That'd be down by the greenhouses," Mr. Marshall replied.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to get to the greenhouses either," I confessed. I'd come across them earlier today, but I didn't know the indoor route, and it was surely dark out by now.

"They're down on the first floor, near the transfiguration courtyard," Mr. Marshall specified.

"The transfiguration courtyard?" I asked, once again feeling like I knew absolutely nothing.

"For Merlin's sake," Mr. Marshall cried, exasperated. "Go down to the first floor and find a portrait to guide you from there."

"Alright," I agreed. I thanked Mr. Marshall for his trouble and hurried down to the first floor.

It took a while to find the greenhouses, but eventually I found my way and knocked on Neville's office door.

"Come in," he called from within. I pushed the door open, relieved that he was here and not somewhere else. "Oh, hello Katie, how can I help you?" he asked.

"I wanted to send a letter," I said, motioning to the letter in my hand. "But I'm afraid I don't know where your mailbox is, nor do I know the return address for the school."

"No need for a return address," Neville informed me. "A letter need only read _Hogwarts_ and your name and it'll find it's way to you."

"Alright," I frowned, scribbling _Hogwarts_ in the corner of the envelope. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to work, but figured Neville should what he was talking about. "And where can I find the mailbox?"

"Well," Neville said. "We don't exactly have a mailbox."

"But I thought you said there was a postage system I could use," I said, becoming upset. "How am I supposed to contact my family if I can't even write to them?"

"We do have a postage system," Neville assured me. "Come on, I might as well just show you."

He led me out of his office and down the corridor. He was walking fast, and I had to practically run to keep up with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked, but he ignored me, only telling me that I would see when we got there.

When we left the school and started crossing the grounds, I wondered if we were going down to the village. If he'd told me I needed to go to the village to mail my letter, I'd have waited for morning. We bypassed the road to the village though, and came to a tower that I'd noticed before but hadn't really thought about.

"What is this?" I asked we began climbing the stairs to the top.

"This is the owlery," Neville explained.

"The owlery?" I gasped in surprise. "Like, where you keep real live owls?"

"See for yourself," Neville said, gesturing to the door that led inside.

Curious, I entered and found myself surrounded by more owls that I'd ever seen in one place before in my life. There were little cubbies built into the wall, each one housing a different owl all the way up to the top of the tower. A small staircase wound round and up to the top of the tower, allowing access to all the owls.

"In the wizarding world, we send our letters by owl," Neville explained.

"You mean to say… an owl is supposed to carry my letter to my family?" I asked in surprise.

"That's right," Neville nodded. "The owls will deliver notes to the front door, and then when your parents write you back, undercover wizards in the mailrooms will intercept their letters and pass them on to Hogwarts with their own owls."

"Wow," I said. "That's a pretty elaborate system."

Neville nodded. "We've had a lot of time to develop it."

"So what do I do?" I wondered looking from my letter to the multitude of owls surrounding me.

"Simply choose an owl," Neville instructed me, leading me up to one that was nearby. "Make sure it's one of the Hogwarts owls you're using, and not someone's personal owl. You can tell them apart because the school owls have small ribbons tied to their left foot." I nodded. "And then you just use the ribbon to tie your envelope to it's foot," Neville said, tying my letter on for me. "And then you let it go." He let go and the owl immediately flew up and out of the owlery, my letter in tow. "And that's it," he finished.

"That's it," I muttered, amazed. This world might be insanely strange and unfamiliar at times, but it was also full of some pretty wonderful things too.


	8. A Community of Isolation

Chapter 8: A Community of Isolation

The next day I awoke to an annoying tapping sound. Blearily, I wiped the sleep from my eyes and focused on the sound to find that it was coming from my window. Upon opening it, an owl zoomed into the room and perched on the end of my bedframe, holding it's leg out to me to display a letter that was tied to it with a ribbon.

Excitedly, I untied it, knowing that this must me an answer from my parents. As soon as the letter was free, the owl flew back out the window at lightning speed, leaving me alone in my room with the letter. Carefully, I opened it and unfolded it, desperate to feel close to my parents even while I was so far away.

_Dear Katie,_

_Your father and I are so glad to hear that you're doing well and that you're making friends at your new job. Friends are so important, especially since you're going to be spending every day with them. _

_We know it's always overwhelming, starting a new job, but we know you're going to do great. It sounds like you're already starting to get the hang of things. And you're one of the most organized people we know, so we're confident you'll have everything sorted by September._

_We'd love to hear more about the school in your next letter. Where it is, what it's like, what kind of food they serve you. We want to know everything that's going on with you. Looking forward to hearing from you again._

_Mom and Dad_

Putting the letter aside, I lay back down in bed and sighed. I'd been so excited for their response, I'd convinced myself that a letter from home is what would make me feel better. But it only made me more homesick. And it reminded me how much I couldn't tell them. They wanted to know about the school, about the food, about the other teachers, but I couldn't tell them anything. When I'd signed the confidentiality agreement, I hadn't realized just how completely I wouldn't be allowed to talk about anything.

I thought about writing to one of my friends, but as I ran through the very short list in my head, I couldn't think of anything to say to any of them. I couldn't talk about my life here, couldn't talk about any of the things I desperately wanted to talk about. And if I couldn't talk about what I was doing, there was very little I could put into a letter in the first place.

I just wished there was someone I could talk to who would understand. Skye was great, and Hannah was lovely, but everyone here was magical except for me. Nobody here could understand my struggle. They understood that my being here was a struggle, but they didn't understand how. They couldn't – none of them had ever had to experience the kind of culture shock that I was experiencing. They'd lived in one world all their lives – the magical world – and they'd always been aware of the muggle world. Until now, I'd been completely in the dark about the existence of this other world, and now I was living in it. It was a lot to take in.

I skipped breakfast that morning, instead choosing to sample a few of the treats on the table in my living room. It seemed that every time I returned to my room, they'd been replaced with fresh treats – most likely by the house elves I had yet to encounter.

I made my way to my classroom, a route that was becoming more and more familiar, and I put myself to work once again, hoping that focusing on creating a curriculum would distract me from my gloomy mood.

I elected to skip lunch as well, returning to my quarters instead to take a shower and take a break with one of my favorite novels. I sampled a few more of the treats on the table behind the couch and noticed that what I'd eaten that morning had already been replenished. Then, feeling a little drowsy, allowed myself to take a nap on the very comfortable couch instead of going back to work.

I was wrenched from my sleep suddenly when Mr. Marshall loudly announced that I had visitors at the door. Confused and startled, I asked him who was there, but he simply replied that it was a couple of other teachers, which was not helpful in the least.

Fixing my clothes and flattening my hair, I walked over to the door and opened it to find Skye and Cameron on the other side.

"Hey guys," I said, wishing I'd looked in a mirror before answering the door. "What are you doing here?"

"We noticed you missed breakfast and lunch," Skye replied. "Nobody's seen you all day. We wanted to make sure you were alright."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just having a bit of a lazy day, I guess."

I didn't mention my morning melancholy. I honestly didn't know Skye or Cameron too well yet, and I didn't want them to think I was depressed or anything.

Cameron nodded. "I get it," he nodded. "And I'm sure these last few days have been pretty overwhelming. A day of rest was probably long overdue."

I nodded, finding that my nap had actually been quite rejuvenating. Now that I was waking up properly, I was feeling much better.

"We were thinking about having a game of exploding snap," Skye said then. "But we really need more than two people for the game to be any fun. Any chance you'd like to join us? We were just headed down to the teacher's lounge."

"Exploding snap?" I questioned.

"It's a wizarding card game," Skye replied. "It's fun, you'll enjoy it."

I shrugged. "Alright," I agreed. If I was going to make friends in this place, then I was going to have to accept these kinds of invitations. "You know, I've never been to the teacher's lounge yet," I noted.

Skye clapped her hands together. "Well then this will be like a little tour," she said gleefully. "Come on."

It wasn't far to the teacher's lounge, only down a couple flights of stairs and we didn't even go through the Grand Staircase. Honestly, the path had a few too many twists and turns for me to remember my way, but Skye got so excited about pointing out different landmarks that I didn't have it in me to tell her I'd never remember the way.

The teacher's lounge was larger than I'd expected. The main room had a fireplace like my living room, and many chairs and couches scattered around. It was open and airy, and the windows were wide open, creating a breeze through the room. Off to the side was a small kitchenette, where Tessa was currently making herself a cup of tea.

Skye led us away from Tessa and towards a coffee table surrounded by some chairs. She said it would be a good surface to play the game on. Then she pulled a stack of strangely shaped cards out of her robes and began to shuffle them as she explained the rules of the game.

They were fairly straightforward. Really the only magical part was that instead of having a timer, the cards would explode if one took too long for their turn. It sounded rather exciting, and it didn't seem like I would be at any kind of disadvantage for being a muggle – for never having played the game perhaps, but not for being a muggle.

We made it through a few rounds before the first explosion startled me so much that when I jumped, the cards I'd been holding flew out of my hands and scattered all around me. Skye and Cameron laughed, but I felt myself turning an embarrassing shade of red.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't expect it to be such a violent explosion."

"What kind of explosion were you expecting?" Cam chuckled as the smoke cleared.

I shrugged and tried not to take their laughter too personally. I was going to need to loosen up if I was going to fit in here. I had to embrace the fact that I was different, or it was going to be a long year.

"Come on, let's deal a new round," Skye said, gathering up all the cards with a quick flick of her wand. As they all magically flew back into a neat pile on the table, I marvelled at the simplicity of the action. I wondered then how many things magical people took for granted. Things like not having to gather scattered cards, or travel long distances on foot. Things that no matter how long I stayed here, I would never be able to do.

"So how long have the two of you worked here?" I asked, trying to distract myself with some conversation.

"Five years now for me," Skye replied. "Going into my sixth."

"This'll be my fourth," Cameron contributed. "Not quite as seasoned as Skye here, but still not the newest teacher."

"No, that'd be me," I muttered, another thought occurring to me. Not only was I the only muggle, but I was the only new teacher that year. Everyone else would know each other from previous years. The students would already know everyone else, and they all knew the students. I didn't know anyone.

"Well yeah, I guess now you would be," Cameron agreed. "But Alex has only been here a year. This year will be his second. Actually, he might be someone good to talk to about adjusting and all that, since he just went through all this last August."

"Who's Alex?" I frowned, not recognizing the name.

"You remember?" Skye prodded. "I told you about him that night at dinner?"

I remembered that Skye had told me about the other professors, but I couldn't remember much of what she'd said.

"Sorry," I apologized. "There was a lot to process that night."

Skye nodded understandingly. "Alexander Campbell. He teaches ancient runes. He's on temporary leave at the moment, but he'll be back soon I'm sure. He still has a curriculum to refine for next term."

"Temporary leave," I repeated. "What's that mean?"

"Oh nothing special," Cameron shrugged. "Lots of us take leave in the summer, since the students aren't here. It's the most convenient time to take a holiday, or visit family. I mean, we're stuck in this castle most of the school year, and some of us have lives outside these brick walls."

"Yeah, that makes sense," I agreed. "Did either of you take leave?"

While Cameron shook his head, Skye nodded.

"I got back about a week ago," Skye replied. "Stayed with my parents for a couple of weeks, saw my sisters."

"What about your friends?' I wondered.

Skye shrugged. "Don't really have any outside Hogwarts anymore," she admitted. "When you work here, the outside world kind of… forgets about you."

"But we're still in the magical world – in your world," I frowned.

"Sure, but Hogwarts is still pretty isolated. And it's not like I have evenings and weekends off like normal people. We work at a boarding school. We make sacrifices," Skye replied.

I slowly took that in. I'd thought my feelings of isolation from my family and friends was because I was in the magical world. But what if that wasn't the issue at all? What if the issue was the simple fact that my job had taken me away from them? It sounded like Skye experienced similar problems.

"What about you Cameron? You didn't want to take leave?" I asked, recalling that he'd indicated a no when I'd first asked the question.

"Well I had to be in France," he reminded me. I recalled the conversation about his presence at the meetings regarding Hogwarts' involvement in an exchange program with the French school Beauxbatons. "There was no time to take a leave even if I'd wanted to."

"Couldn't you take a short leave now?" I asked. Term didn't start for almost a month. There was still time.

Cameron shrugged. "I suppose," he agreed. "If I had somewhere to go."

Skye placed a hand on Cameron's arm and looked at me.

"Cameron's parents died a few years back. He didn't have any other family," she informed me.

"Oh," I nodded, feeling bad for pushing the topic. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Cameron muttered. "My life is Hogwarts now. And I'm happy here. It's a really great place to be."

"That's true," Skye smiled. "You'll see Katie. This really is a great place to work. You get to work with some great people," she gestured to herself and Cameron and I smirked, "the food is delicious, and the job is actually pretty fun."

"Yeah, for you," Cameron joked. "You get to fly around all day. The students love your class. Nobody enjoys arithmancy."

"I bet your class will be a lot of fun though," Skye said to me. "Not dry and boring like history of magic."

"History of magic," I muttered, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned this class to me yet. "Who teaches that?"

"Oh, that'd be Professor Binns," Cameron said, sharing a look with Skye. "You probably won't meet him any time soon."

"Why not?" I frowned, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned a Professor Binns to me yet. "Does he not go to meals?" I asked, since this was where I was meeting most of the other teachers.

"No, he wouldn't have any need," Skye replied. "He's a ghost, you see."

"A ghost!" I exclaimed in surprise.

Skye nodded. "I'm surprised you haven't run into one yet."

"I heard they were keeping their distance for a few days until she'd had time to adjust," Cameron muttered, not softly enough that I couldn't hear.

"Okay, so there are ghosts," I said, the idea of ghosts not too difficult to swallow after giants and house elves. "But they're actually qualified to teach classes?"

"Well it's just the one," Skye explained. "And he had the job before he died. And then after he died… well nobody really had the heart to fire a dead guy."

"How does that even work?" I frowned, unable to understand how a ghost could grade papers, or rifle through a history textbook, or write on a chalkboard. "Or is he a poltergeist?"

"No, he's just a ghost," Cameron answered. "But he has his own personal group of house elves that assist him with the necessary tasks. And in class, he mostly just drones on and the students take notes."

"We do have a poltergeist though," Skye spoke up. "Peeves. But he tends to lay low in the summer. He's a bit of a prankster, but without students there aren't enough targets to interest him. He's probably off thinking up new tricks in some abandoned classroom somewhere."

I faltered for a moment. "Hang on… a trickster poltergeist? Do I need to be worried?"

"Definitely not," Cameron shook his head. "Peeves can be a nuisance, but that's about it. And he's usually pretty harmless."

"But I won't have magic to defend myself against his tricks," I said, worried. "Won't that put me at a disadvantage?"

"Actually, that'll probably work in your favor," Skye said, sounding a little jealous. "Once he figures out you don't have magic, he won't be interested in tricking you. He's looking for an even match. He wants people to be able to fight back."

I swallowed and nodded, deciding that I wasn't going to worry about the poltergeist. And as for the ghosts… well considering they were all allowing me the space to settle in, I was going to assume that they were friendly and not worry about them either.


	9. Alexander Campbell

Chapter 9: Alexander Campbell

Over the next few days, I started to really feel like I was settling in at Hogwarts. Skye and Cameron were quickly becoming good friends, Hannah and Tessa were both pleasant and helpful, and I was finally forming a real plan for the upcoming years' curriculum. I'd even made a list of supplies and materials that I wanted and had submitted it to Headmaster Slinkhard. I wasn't sure how to go about buying anything in the magical world, especially when I was trying to buy muggle objects, so I figured it was best left in his hands.

I'd met Professor Mark Brunwell – the second Mark at this school – the day before. He'd returned from his summer break and Cameron had introduced us. This Mark was much less intimidating than the one that taught defensive magic, but Skye warned me that I probably wouldn't see much of him. Professor Brunwell taught astronomy, which was the only class taught in the middle of the night. As such, the man had basically become nocturnal. He slept during the day while the rest of us were working, and then when we all went to sleep, he would get up and do his work. Apparently, he and Mr. Clarke got along pretty well, as Mr. Clarke had a similar schedule, being the night patrolman.

There were still three more individuals on my list of people I hadn't met, Mr. Clarke included, but Skye assured me that I would meet them all very soon. I was particularly looking forward to meeting Alexander Campbell, the ancient runes teacher. I wanted to talk to him about his experience last year, being new and all, and get some pointers for dealing with the students. Being the newest teacher apart from myself, he seemed like the person to ask.

As for my curriculum, I'd decided to stick with the five categories I'd narrowed Professor Carborough's notes down to, making each one the topic of one of my five classes. I'd organized them from least complex to most complex.

The third years would be studying muggle culture and daily life, including things like sports, games, fashion, and food. The fourth years would be studying muggle institutions and government, including the muggle postage system, judicial system, system of currency, and governmental structures. The fifth years would be studying all forms of technology, starting with electricity and then covering all sorts of technological devices from toasters and blenders to televisions to computers and cell phones. The fifth year course would end with a unit on social media, which I'd learned was a primary component of the O.W.L. exams they would have to sit.

The sixth years would be studying what I was calling health and wellness. We'd be covering things like medication, muggle medicine and surgery, dentistry, drugs and drug abuse, and also psychology. And then finally the seventh years would be covering the most complex of subjects: beliefs and cosmology. They would learn about religion, science, and the presence of magic in the muggle world and its implications and manifestations. This last subject would be particularly difficult for me, having come from the muggle world itself and not having the outside perspective. I intended to do a lot of research in preparation for those particular lesson plans.

One afternoon found me in the library, completely engrossed in a book about monsters in the muggle world in comparison to their real-life counterparts in the magical world. Not only was I learning a lot about the impact that the magical world had had on the muggle world, I was also learning that there were a lot of misconceptions in the muggle world about aspects of the magical. For example, muggle culture had mythologized the fairy to the point of creating the idea of a fairy godmother, when really a fairy was no more than a humanoid magical insect. It was fascinating.

Glancing out the window, I could see a small figure in the distance, zooming through the air, and I knew it was Skye flying. There was a couple emerging from the forest, Hannah carrying what looked like a basket full of plants. I recognized them as Hannah and Neville, and I found myself smiling when they stopped, turned to each other, exchange a swift kiss, and then went in opposite directions.

Turning back to the library, I saw Agatha at her desk not far from where I was sitting, magically mending some of the rattier books in the library with care and precision. A few tables away, Tessa Flitwick was magically copying pages from one of the library books, almost like photocopying.

Meanwhile, I felt completely at peace. My feelings of not belonging were quickly vanishing. Everything was starting to feel more familiar, more natural, more normal. People weren't treating me like the muggle girl anymore, but rather just the new girl who couldn't use magic – and yes, there's a difference. Each day, I missed my old life less and less. Back home, I would waste hours sitting on the couch watching Netflix, or scrolling on my phone. Here, not a moment was wasted. If I wasn't working, I was reading, or spending time with my new friends. I'd even taken to roaming the castle, now that I was feeling bolder, in an attempt to learn to navigate it in time for start of term. I couldn't have the students taking advantage of a lost teacher.

"Well," Tessa spoke up suddenly, drawing me out of my thoughts. "I think I'll head to lunch. Katie? Agatha? Will you join me?"

"In a moment," Agatha replied, still hard at work mending the spine of a rather decrepit book. "If I let this one sit half-mended, it'll only get worse."

Tessa nodded. "Katie?"

"Yeah, I could eat," I agreed, putting the book I was reading to the side and getting up to join the charms teacher. I informed Agatha that I would be back later to continue reading the book and please not to put it back on the shelf, because it had taken me long enough to find it the first time. Then Tessa and I stepped out into the corridor to make our way to the ground floor.

"So how's the curriculum coming along?" Tessa asked conversationally as we walked.

"Pretty good actually," I informed her. "I know what I'm going to teach, now I just have to figure out how I'm going to teach it all."

Tessa nodded knowingly. "On the bright side, as long as you have the first term planned, you don't really have to worry too much about the rest of the year. You can keep planning those lessons as you go."

"True," I nodded. "But I'd like to have at least a general idea of what I'm doing for the whole year. I've never taught before, and I don't know how time consuming it'll be setting assignments and grading papers, not to mention actually teaching the classes."

"At least you only have five classes to teach," Tessa pointed out. "I have twelve."

"Right," I said, suddenly relieved I was only teaching an elective class. "And you have to teach all seven years, where I don't have to teach the first or second years."

"Be grateful for that," Tessa said. "They're the biggest handfuls. They're young and immature and can't sit still for long periods of time. You'll have the older students, and even then, mostly only ones that are actually interested in your subject."

"Not that I'm complaining," I spoke up. "But why is muggle studies only an elective class. Shouldn't it be mandatory? Isn't it important to be able to understand how the rest of the world lives, especially if you're going to be aware of us, but we aren't going to be aware of you?"

Tessa shrugged. "Most witches and wizards never come in contact with the muggle world. We have our own villages, our own schools, our own hospitals, our own government buildings…"

"Yes, but aren't they all accessible through the muggle world?" I inquired.

"They are," Tessa agreed. "But they're also accessible by magical means. One could easily floo into the lobby of St. Mungo's, or the atrium of the Ministry of Magic."

"But there's some where you can't do that," I insisted. I'd been doing my research and I knew what I was talking about. "Take Hogwarts for example. The only way for students to get here is by taking the train, the Hogwarts Express. And the only place to board it is at King's Cross station, right? So every magical family with a child going to Hogwarts has to pass through King's Cross station – a muggle building – to get to the train platform."

"Well sure, but that's not – "

"I'm just saying, it seems like in the interest of keeping the International Statute of Secrecy, all witches and wizards would have a basic education in muggle studies so that they could know how to properly keep the secret," I argued.

I could tell from the look on Tessa's face that she disagreed. I suddenly wished I hadn't said so much. Who was I to be so opinionated? I'd been introduced to the magical world a week ago. I knew nothing. I wasn't entitled to have opinions yet. Who's to say I even knew what the International Statute of Secrecy really was? I'd only read about it in Professor Carborough's notes.

"Then again, maybe I'm just like every other teacher who thinks their subject is the most important subject there ever was," I said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's not that muggle studies isn't important," Tessa said. "It's just that it's not as important as other things. Like charms, or potions. A good witch or wizard has to know how to use their magic, or else what's the point?"

I could think of a dozen reasons to argue Tessa's statement, but there were probably a hundred reasons why my arguments would be invalid, and I didn't want to open that can of worms again. Instead, I nodded and stayed quiet until we reached the Great Hall, where to my relief, Tessa hurried away from me and went to sit with Hannah, leaving me to take a seat with Skye and Cameron.

"I think I messed up," I muttered quietly as I took a serving of salad. "I told Tessa I thought muggle studies should be a mandatory class for all students and she got pretty upset about it."

"Don't worry about it," Skye reassured me. "It's the same argument that the elective teachers try to argue every year. You think your subject is the most important. I think my subject is the most important. Tessa thinks her subject is the most important. But it's the Ministry that makes the final decisions and there's nothing we can do about that."

I nodded, again reminding myself that I'd only been here a week and it wasn't time for me to start passing judgments about the Ministry of Magic. "Well anyway, I'm glad I don't have to teach twelve classes," I said. "Five is enough stress, thank you very much."

"Agreed," Cameron nodded. "And I'm especially glad that I only have to teach one class in each year. If I had to repeat the exact same lesson over twice with a different crop of students, I think I'd go mad."

"Yeah, I'm kind of glad about that too," I agreed. "I feel like I'd get confused about where I was at with each class and get them mixed up."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Skye said. "Every class is different."

"Easy for you to say when your subject is flying," Cameron retorted. "You deal with every student on an individual level."

"And you don't?" Skye frowned.

"Well… not necessarily," Cameron defended. "And not in the classroom setting. If they come for after-hours help, that's a different thing, but there's only so much individual attention I can give in an hour-long lesson in a class of thirty students."

"Fair point," Skye allowed. "So hey, what do you guys say after lunch we go down to the village? I need to visit Spintwitches and see if my order is in."

"I'm in," Cameron agreed readily. "I have some things I need to pick up as well."

"What about you, Katie?" Skye asked.

I didn't want to hurt Skye or Cameron's feelings, but honestly, I wasn't feeling much in the mood for a trip to the village. I'd just been there not long ago with Hannah, and it wasn't as though there was much there I could buy. Plus, when Hannah and I had gone to the Three Broomsticks, it had gotten rather awkward when I'd been unable to pay due to all my money being in muggle currency, and I didn't quite feeling like having to relive that nightmare.

"No thanks," I said as gently as possible. "I'm actually about halfway through reading this book in the library and I'd really like to finish it before – "

I was cut off from finishing the sentence when the doors to the Great Hall opened and everyone turned to see who it was. I'd expected Agatha, or perhaps Mark Stern or Mr. Filch, all of whom were currently missing from lunch. Instead, the man who walked into the room was completely unfamiliar to me.

"Alex!" Skye exclaimed, jumping up to give the new arrival a hug. "You're back!"

Putting two and two together, I immediately surmised that the newcomer was the ancient runes teacher, Alexander Campbell. Cameron also rose to greet him while the rest of the teachers simply waved or called out verbal greetings. I just waited, figuring Skye and Cameron would introduce me eventually, and not wanting to intrude on their reunion.

He noticed me before either of them thought to point me out. His eyes found mine, and then he smiled and took a step forward.

"Can I assume you're the new muggle studies teacher?" he asked.

I rose, feeling awkward being the only one still sitting, and nodded. "I'm Katie Harris," I introduced myself, holding out my hand, and then awkwardly dropping it when he didn't extend his own to shake it.

"Nice to meet you," he replied. "I'm Alexander Campbell, though Alex is what most people call me."

I nodded. "Katie is what most people call me," I said, realizing after I'd said it that this was silly, given I'd already introduced myself as such. I felt myself blush and then frowned, because I was being weird and why was I suddenly unable to form a coherent thought?

"Well Katie, it's nice to have you here," Alex said. "You're definitely a lot prettier than Professor Carborough." He winked, and then he turned around to speak to Cameron.

I felt my stomach fly into my throat. I put a hand out to grasp the table to steady myself and then I searched for Skye, locking onto her eyes to see if she'd seen all that had just happened. From the look on her face she had. Alex Campbell had flirted with me. And while it was the most unexpected thing – I'd thought boys were going to be off the table for the next year, at least while I was at this school – I'd liked it.


	10. Chocolate Frog

Chapter 10: Chocolate Frog

"Are you sure you don't want to come down to the village with us?" Skye insisted as we finished up with lunch. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

"No," I shook my head. "I have work to do. That book – I promised Agatha I'd be back to finish it."

"I'm sure Agatha won't mind if you finish it tomorrow," Alex said, looking at me in a way that made me want to throw all my plans out the window.

"Well I – It's just that – " I stammered, finding myself unable to form a coherent thought, let alone sentence.

"Come with us," Alex insisted.

"So you're coming too then?" Cameron asked, this particular issue not having been decided yet.

"I will if Katie does," Alex said, still looking at me intently.

"Well that settles it," Skye declared. "Katie has to come."

"I guess my book can wait for tomorrow," I allowed, caving pretty quickly.

"Great!" Cameron exclaimed merrily. "Then let's get going!"

The walk to Hogsmeade was long but pleasant. It was one of those summer days where it's sunny and warm, but not too hot. I walked with Skye most of the way, though I could feel Alex's eyes on me the whole time. It was a weird feeling, but I liked the attention. I just wished I was wearing heels.

When we arrived in Hogsmeade, Skye insisted on starting at the sporting goods store to pick up her supplies. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was to discover that her order wasn't in.

"What do you mean it hasn't arrived yet?" Skye cried angrily to the shopkeeper. "I placed the order weeks ago!"

"I did promise to owl you once the supplies had arrived," the shopkeeper reminded Skye. "I'm sure it'll only be another day or two. A few of the items you requested are on backorder, you see."

"I thought I paid extra to be on priority," Skye insisted. "Didn't you put a rush on my order?"

"Unfortunately, Headmaster Slinkhard overruled your request for priority shipping," the shopkeeper said.

"He did _what_?" Skye cried in outrage.

Glancing from Cameron to Alex, I motioned that I was going to step outside. Whatever altercation Skye was having with the shopkeeper, I wasn't involved and didn't want to be.

I pulled the door open and exited the shop onto the street. I heard the door shut a few seconds later than it should have and I turned around to find that Alex had followed me out.

"Cam can keep an eye on Skye," he assured me. "He'll keep her out of trouble."

"Right," I nodded, swallowing thickly as it occurred to me that I was now basically alone with Alex. "So… was there anywhere you wanted to go? Supplies you need to pick up?"

Alex smirked and shook his head. "Nope. Teaching ancient runes has its benefits. One of them being that apart from parchment and quills, I don't really need supplies."

"Sure," I nodded, as if I had any idea what constituted the study of ancient runes. "So is there…" I trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. I'd already asked if there was anywhere he wanted to go. I didn't want to repeat myself.

"Have you been to Honeydukes yet?" Alex asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Honeydukes?" I frowned, trying to recall if I recognized the name. "I'm not sure. I've been to the apothecary, the cauldron store, the parchment store, and the restaurant – though if there's more than one I don't know which."

Alex laughed. "Well then you haven't been to Honeydukes. Come on, it's my favorite."

I allowed myself to be led down the street, partly because I was curious to see more of the village, and partly because I was finding that I liked Alex, and I wanted to see if there was any potential there. When we came to the shop in question, Alex held the door for me, and I stepped inside.

I could tell immediately that I was in a sweet shop. Muggle or magical, they all had a similar look and feel about them. It smelled sweet, and the displays were all very colorful and exciting looking. The only problem was, I didn't recognize any of the sweets.

"What do you think?" Alex asked, his eyes on me as I marvelled at everything I was seeing.

"I don't know what to think," I admitted. "What is all this?"

"Well," Alex said, steering me to a display to my left. "These long things are called licorice wands," he pointed to a display of long reddish-brown candies.

"Like twizzlers?" I asked.

"What's a twizzler?" Alex wondered.

"Never mind," I shook my head. "What's this?" I pointed to the next display, which contained packages of something labelled _Bertie Botts_.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," Alex said with a chuckle. "Oh I've had some adventures with these. See, they're these small candies that come in all sorts of different flavors, but the trick is, you don't know what flavor you've got until you try it. You might get lucky with lemon or vanilla, but you could also get stuck with something unpleasant like pond scum."

"So they're like Jelly Bellies!" I exclaimed, making the parallel to the muggle equivalent. Magical sweets really weren't all that different from non-magical sweets, I was discovering.

"What's a Jelly Belly?" Alex frowned.

I sighed. "Never mind," I shook my head. I had to remember that the whole point of my being here was that nobody in the magical world understood the muggle world. Maybe I was here to educate the teachers as much as the students. "What about these?" I asked, moving on to the next display.

"Chocolate frogs," Alex informed me.

"Oh I love chocolate!" I practically moaned. As soon as I'd said it, I regretted it. It had come out much too emphatically and I was a little embarrassed at myself. "Sorry, I haven't had any chocolate since coming here and I didn't realize until now how much I missed it."

"That's alright," Alex said, smirking at me. "Come on, I'll buy you one."

Alex grabbed one of the chocolate frog packages and started heading towards the cash at the front. Panicking, I chased after him, grabbing his arm to stop him and then letting go as quickly as I'd grabbed on when he turned around.

"That's really not necessary," I insisted. "You don't need to buy me anything – "

"It's just a chocolate frog," Alex said. "And it'll be your first one. You can't go into your first term as a teacher without ever having sampled a chocolate frog."

A part of me wanted to insist that he not buy me the chocolate. I had no way of repaying him, since all my money was muggle, and I didn't want him wasting money on some girl he just met. Another part of me didn't want to argue with Alex and also really wanted the chocolate.

"Alright," I agreed eventually, allowing him to go to the cash and pay for my chocolate frog. He passed over a few bronze coins, and I wished I had a clue how much this was costing. Then again, maybe I didn't want to know.

We stepped out onto the street, and Alex handed me the package.

"Well we can at least share it," I shrugged as I pulled the lid open.

Before I could even look inside the package, the box seemed to come to life in my hands. It started moving and shaking, and then something jumped out of the box and landed on my head.

I screamed.

Alex laughed.

"What's so funny?" I cried as the thing jumped off my head and started down the street.

Instead of answering me, Alex darted after the thing, chasing it down with magic until it stopped moving, and he carried it over to me.

"Sorry," he apologized, dropping the think back in the box. "I should have warned you. You've got to be fast with chocolate frogs, or they get away."

"What are you - ?" I peered inside the box to see that the thing that had jumped out was my chocolate. Except that now it was no longer moving, and looked the way I'd imagined a chocolate frog should look.

"It's a spell," Alex explained, sensing that I was confused. "For fun."

"Right, fun," I nodded, pretending this made sense. "Because I usually like to have to chase down my chocolate before I eat it."

"Hey, at least you burn the calories," Alex said lightly.

I laughed and shook my head. "Okay, so now what do I do with it?" I asked.

"You eat it," Alex replied.

I faltered. "But it was on the ground," I pointed out. "It was on my head. It'll be contaminated."

"It's magical chocolate that's designed to try to escape," Alex reminded me. "It's charmed against picking up any dirt or germs from touching the ground."

"Of course," I said, shocked that I didn't realize this before. Obviously the magical jumping chocolate would also be dirt-repelling. "Well if I'm going to eat it, then you have to join me," I said, holding the box out for Alex to take a piece. "It's the only way I'll trust that it's safe."

Alex chuckled, but broke off a piece of the frog's leg. I took a piece for myself, and then we both raised the chocolate to our lips at the same time.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as the chocolate hit my taste buds. It was some of the best chocolate I'd ever sampled. It tasted pure, like it was undiluted by the usual chemicals they add to give it a long shelf-life. "This is amazing!" I broke off a second piece and took another bite while I was still swallowing the first.

"It's the secret ingredient," Alex said knowingly.

"And what's that?" I wondered.

Alex smirked. "Magic," he said.

For once, the answer wasn't a clever way to evade the question. He really did mean that magic was the secret ingredient. And I believed it. If I was going to imagine that magic had a flavor, then it was definitely in this chocolate frog.

"I think this is my new favorite kind of chocolate," I declared happily, taking a third bite. "Thank you for this."

"My pleasure," Alex returned, looking rather pleased with himself.

KkKkKkKkKkK

We met back up with Skye and Cameron at the parchment store, where all three of my fellow teachers purchased some extra supplies. Like Hannah, they asked if I needed to buy anything, but I assured them that I intended on sticking to the muggle supplies. I told them it was to bring a sense of authenticity to my subject, but honestly I just couldn't see myself writing with an enormous quill that kept getting in my face, or on a roll of parchment that kept rolling up on itself. Regular pens and paper would do just fine for me.

To my relief, the others decided not to stick around in the village for dinner. After everyone had finished their shopping, we headed back up to the castle to join the other teachers for dinner in the Great Hall, so there was no need for the awkward conversation about why I couldn't pay for my own food.

Luckily, my afternoon chocolate snack hadn't ruined my appetite and I thoroughly enjoyed the chicken dinner that the house elves had cooked up. I skipped dessert, having had enough sweets for the day, and said a polite goodnight to the others as I stood up to depart.

"Won't you join us in the teacher's lounge?" Skye asked as I was taking my leave. "We were thinking about breaking out the wizard's chess sets. It could be fun."

"I'm sure it will be," I agreed. "But I'm pretty tired. I just need to get some rest."

"Alright," Skye agreed readily. "See you tomorrow."

I nodded, and then said goodnight to Cameron and Alex as well.

"Sweet dreams," Alex said, with a wink.

I turned away so he wouldn't see my blush and then pushed my way through the doors into the hall.

It was ridiculous, how easily Alex could make me blush. But with the way he kept looking at me, coupled with the flirting and the winking – well it wasn't hard to see why I was turning into a blushing schoolgirl. Alex was friendly, attractive, funny, smart – and while I couldn't see what he could possibly see in me, given that I was a muggle nobody, who'd just been thrown into this magical world, he seemed to like me.

And while it was definitely too early to be making any rash decisions or jumping into anything too quickly, I had to admit one thing to myself. I had a crush on Alexander Campbell.


	11. Organizing the Classroom

Chapter 11: Organizing the Classroom

It took two weeks for the shipment of supplies I'd ordered to arrive. I had no idea where Headmaster Slinkhard had ordered them from, but however he'd pulled it off, there were suddenly boxes upon boxes of muggle school supplies and decorations for my classroom sitting in the Entrance Hall.

"Need some help with those?" Alex asked, emerging from the Great Hall. Everyone else was still eating breakfast, but I'd elected to skip it in favor of getting started organizing my classroom. I was excited to finally put some life into it.

"I've got it," I replied, my sense of independence rearing its head. It was almost like a reflex for me to refuse help in situations like this. I didn't even think about the three-story, multi-trip adventure that was ahead of me before answering.

"Come on, just let me help," Alex insisted, shaking his head at me. "Without magic, it'll take you all morning to get these up to your classroom."

"I can manage," I said obstinately, not entirely sure why I was still refusing the help. I really didn't want to carry all these boxes up several flights of stairs and down winding corridors.

"I'm sure you can," Alex smirked. "But it'll take you all day, and by the end of it, you'll be covered in sweat. With my help, it'll take one trip and no physical exertion."

I opened my mouth to decline yet again, but Alex cut me off with a stern look. I shut my mouth and pressed my lips together as I smiled. "Fine," I said, defeated. "You can help."

With a wave of his wand, all the boxes lifted into the air as one and began a slow migration towards the Grand Staircase.

"Well I can at least carry one," I insisted, following after Alex and the boxes.

"No need," Alex said, walking ahead of me. "Besides, they're already in the air now. If I lower them on the stairs, they'll just fall all over the place."

"You know, I could've done this myself," I repeated myself as we reached the second floor. "You didn't have to help. You could've stayed and finished breakfast."

"I know," Alex said. "I was done with breakfast anyway. And your classroom is on my way anyhow."

"On your way where?" I frowned. Alex's office and classroom were on the sixth floor. Getting off the Grand Staircase on the third floor was a complete detour.

Alex didn't answer, but I could feel him smirking. I felt the sudden urge to throw something small at him, like an eraser or a crumped up piece of paper, but I had nothing in my pockets.

"You could say thank you," Alex said once we'd arrived at my classroom and he'd deposited the boxes on the floor at the back.

"Thank you," I parroted back at him.

"Do you need help with anything else?" he asked, looking from the boxes to me. "You've got a lot to unpack there."

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Besides, I'm sure you've got tons of work to do."

Alex shrugged. "I've got time," he said. "Come on, I'll unpack and you place and organize."

Not giving me much of a choice in the matter, Alex threw the lid off the first box and delved inside. Not that I minded. I did appreciate the help, not that I would have asked for it. And I was enjoying the company. It was nicer than doing this all alone, especially without an iPod to blast music from while working.

"Okay, what is all of this?" Alex frowned, reaching into the first box and pulling out a stapler. He held it like it was a rotten banana and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's called a stapler," I replied. "It's for attaching multiple papers together and it's going on my desk."

I took the stapler and walked over to my empty classroom desk, placing it on the corner for now until I had more supplies and could organize them properly.

"Alright, and what's this supposed to be?" Alex asked again, holding out a three-hole punch.

"That's for punching holes in the sides of papers," I explained. "So that they can be placed in binders or duo-tang folders."

"What's a binder?" Alex asked, looking into the box with a very lost expression on his face.

I laughed. "It's something you use to file a bunch of different papers together when they're all related," I explained.

"Right," Alex nodded.

And so the morning continued in much the same fashion. Alex pulled items out of boxes and asked what they were. To the best of my ability, I explained what they were called and what kinds of functions they performed. Sometimes, Alex made fun of the objects. White-out, for example, he thought was rather silly, given that one could simply cross out the mistake and keep going. He also found the need for highlighters rather puzzling.

In total, I'd ordered four sets of all the office supplies. One set was for my classroom desk, one set was for my office desk, and two sets would go in the supply cupboard at the back of the classroom for student use. I would be encouraging the use of muggle supplies for all their assignments. Essays turned in on parchment would be docked marks.

The most fun part of the unpacking came when we got to the boxes full of posters and picture frames. I'd ordered posters of all sorts of different muggle things to put up all over the classroom. The idea was to give the students an idea of what some of the things we'd be studying looked like. There were posters of bands and celebrities, posters advertising one thing or another, posters for movies, book covers, posters of sports teams. Some were simply pictures of things like planes, or certain types of food, or animals that weren't encountered in the magical world. Most importantly, not even one of my pictures or posters moved. They were all completely stationary, like in the non-magical world.

Alex's presence actually proved vital during this part of the decorating process. I hadn't thought about how I was going to hang all the posters and pictures in their frames, but given the fact that my walls were made of stone, I was going to have a hard time getting sticky-tack to hold, or to hammer a nail into the wall. Luckily, Alex knew some good sticking charms, and he had everything sticking to the walls within a matter of minutes.

By the end of it, the classroom was looking much cheerier, and much more inviting. I was proud of our work and thoroughly satisfied with the result. I would still have to do some reorganizing of my desks, but that could wait until I was alone. Alex didn't want to watch me puzzle over whether to put the three-hole punch in the middle or bottom drawer. That was something I could do on my own.

"Well I think it looks great," I declared once the last box was empty.

"It definitely looks like you'll be teaching muggle studies," Alex said.

I frowned and looked over at him. "Well that's the point, isn't it?" I asked. "That is my subject."

Alex nodded. "It's just… so different in here than it's ever been before. And I've never seen so many things I didn't know the names for before."

"Pretty big culture shock, huh?" I asked, a little cheekily.

Alex chuckled and gave me the win. "Alright, point taken," he said. "It's hard to beat you in that department."

"I think I'm handling it pretty well," I said, reflecting on my time here. While the first few days had been hard, I'd adapted really well over the past weeks. When the ghosts had started appearing around the castle, I'd only been mildly surprised. I no longer jumped when a portrait tried to talk to me, it was becoming perfectly ordinary to me to have my food magically appear on my plate, and the moving staircases were becoming so predictable, I suspected I would be lost if they stopped rotating.

"Much better than any of us had expected," Alex agreed. "Headmaster Slinkhard had wanted to hire someone immediately when Professor Carborough announced he was leaving, but nobody was applying for the position. When the end of July came around, we were about to give up hope and just hire a wizard to take the position. We didn't think there'd be enough time for a muggle to adapt before the students arrived."

"I'm still a little nervous about that," I admitted.

"Well that's to be expected, magical or non-magical," Alex assured me. "I was nervous this time last year too. But the students are great. And the ones that aren't won't really be your problem anyway. You're not anyone's Head of House."

"No, but if someone misbehaves in class, I'll still have to give out detention," I pointed out.

"The other teachers would understand if you passed that responsibility over to the appropriate Head of House," Alex informed me. "You know, if you felt uncomfortable running a detention for students with magic when you don't have any magic yourself."

"I can run my own detentions, thank you very much!" I exclaimed, suddenly offended. Did Alex think because I was non-magical, I was somehow inept? If that was the case, why would they have even hired me in the first place?

"Of course you can!" Alex exclaimed hurriedly. "I didn't mean to suggest that you couldn't. Only that if you were worried that they might use magic against you in detention…" he trailed off.

"I don't intend to allow wands in my detentions," I declared, making an on the spot decision. "In fact, I don't think I'll allow wands in my classroom at all."

It was an adaptation on something I'd heard of a lot of muggle teachers doing nowadays with cell phones. In order to keep students focused on the lesson, they all had to deposit their cell phones in a basket at the door of the classroom and weren't allowed them back until the end of the lesson. It was a good idea, and one that might work well for me here. If students had to leave their wands behind, they wouldn't be tempted to try to use magic in class, and it would force them to do things the muggle way, experience the non-magical way even better.

"The students are not going to like that," Alex said, sounding like he wanted a front row seat to my first lesson.

"Probably not," I agreed. There'd been a lot of controversy over the no cell phones thing when it had first started. In the end, the rule had stood, and so would mine. "But they'll learn to accept it."

KkKkKkKkKkK

Lunch was poorly attended. Hannah, Tessa, and Neville were all down at the village for the day. Mr. Clarke and Mark Brunwell were both asleep, already on their nocturnal schedule in preparation for the upcoming school year. Mr. Filch was off having an argument with the poltergeist and Andromeda Tonks, the transfiguration professor, who'd only just arrived back a few days ago, was on a fire-call with her grandson, who worked at the Ministry of Magic.

"So you got everything all set up and organized?" Skye asked me as we selected some sandwiches from a large central platter.

"Pretty much," I confirmed. "You should come by and take a look later. The room is transformed."

"It's definitely something," Alex agreed, munching on some carrot sticks.

"Well I am proud to say that I've finished my annual upkeep on all the brooms in the broom shed, which means that this afternoon I get to test them all, to make sure they're all still safe and functioning properly," Skye declared happily. "And you are all welcome to join me. There's a ton of brooms down there to test and I could use some extra bodies."

"I'm in," Cameron agreed readily.

"Me too," Alex nodded. "I could use an afternoon out of the castle."

Sadly, I dropped my sandwich onto my plate and swirled my water around in my goblet. "Well I wouldn't be much help," I muttered. Being a muggle meant I couldn't fly a broom on my own, so my presence would just be redundant. "I'll probably just go back to my office and make sure my desk is organized just the way I want it."

"Oh come on," Skye insisted. "Just because you can't fly the brooms doesn't mean you can't still help. You can be the one that sorts through the brooms on the ground and passes them to us to test."

"Gee, doesn't that sound like fun," I muttered sarcastically. It was a fake job to make me feel better and we all knew it.

"Okay, so that was lame, I know," Skye admitted. "But it'll still be more fun if you come too. Even if you can't fly any of the brooms yourself."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I didn't want to be a nuisance. "I wouldn't be in the way? Because I really do have stuff I could do in my office."

"You would most definitely not be in the way," Skye assured me. "But if _you'd_ rather work in your office, you're more than welcome to stay here."

"No," I shook my head immediately. "I'd much rather be down at the pitch with you guys."

"Well it's settled then," Skye smiled. "We'll all spend a lovely afternoon on the quidditch pitch."


	12. Missing Out

Chapter 12: Missing Out

It was hot, it was humid, and I was sweating. You wouldn't think lugging around a bunch of brooms would be as exhausting as it was, but with all these brooms, it was bound to wear me out eventually. I probably smelled terrible, and I was avoiding looking at my armpits, because I was sure if I did, I would find sweat stains. I couldn't understand how the others were wearing pitch black robes and still managing not to sweat. I wondered if their robes were made of some kind of cooling material. Or perhaps it was the fact that they were flying, so they had the benefit of a breeze as they zoomed in circles around the pitch. Or maybe it was just magic.

"Last one," I muttered to myself gratefully as I pulled the final broom out of the broom shed. I dragged it to the center of the pitch and waited for Skye to touch down to trade her for the one she'd just been riding.

"This one's fine," Skye informed me. "Put it with the keepers."

"Sure thing," I nodded.

I began to drag Skye's broom back towards the broom shed. Now that all the brooms had been tested, we could put the working brooms away, and bring the brooms to be mended to Skye's workroom behind the team changing rooms.

To my relief, Cameron and Alex soon touched down and began helping me with the putting away portion of the afternoon, making the work go by much faster than before. In no time, the brooms were all in their proper places and we were all huddled on the edge of the pitch waiting for Skye to finish her loop-the-loops so that we could pack up and head back up to the castle.

"I just love flying," Skye breathed as she touched down and put the final broom back in the broom shed. "I think if I couldn't fly, then there would just be no point going on living."

I subtly glanced away at that in the hopes that Skye wouldn't see my expression. Unfortunately, she was very perceptive and immediately realized what she'd said.

"Oh Katie, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean – I don't think that – "

"It's fine," I assured her. "I get it. Flying is your thing. I have other things."

"It's just that flying is such a big part of who I am – "

"Trust me, I'm good," I insisted. There was no need for Skye to be apologizing. She'd only spoken her own truth. It was nobody's fault that I couldn't fly, or that I'd been born a muggle. It was just the way the cards had been dealt.

"You know, if you want to experience flying – " Alex began.

I held up my hand to stop him and shook my head. "Don't bother," I muttered. "Skye's already taken me up. It's not the same."

It wasn't that I was mad or upset, I was just done with the conversation. There was no changing the situation. I was a muggle. That meant that there were going to be things the others could do and experience that I never could. At least not in the same way. And while it normally didn't bother me, I also didn't want to belabour the point.

"Look, I should really finish organizing my desks," I declared, taking a step backwards. "We're only a week away from start of term and I need everything to be ready for the students' arrival."

"Do you want some company?" Alex offered. "We could all – "

"No thanks," I interrupted. "I think I'd prefer to do this on my own. I'll see you all at dinner?"

Alex nodded reluctantly, as did Skye and Cameron. I swallowed and nodded back, forcing my emotions down as I turned and hurried back up to the castle and privacy.

I was being silly. I was being completely ridiculous. I'd never been able to fly, so it's not as though I'd lost something. It's not as though anything had changed. Except that it had. Because before coming here, I hadn't known it was possible to fly. I hadn't known it was possible to teleport, or to manipulate objects with a flick of the wrist. I hadn't known that all these things were possible, so I'd never been sad that I couldn't do them. But now I had to watch people do things day in and day out that I desperately wished I could do and yet knew I never could. I would never have magic. I would never have the ability to summon something from across the room, to create a light from nothing, to soar through the sky freely and without limitations. And I would forever know that I was missing out.

While I'd hoped that organizing my desks would take my mind off things – normally that sort of thing required complete and utter focus – it didn't. My mind just kept circling back to the conversation out on the Quidditch pitch and how it had felt lugging all those brooms, watching my new friends fly around the pitch while I remained stranded on the ground. And then I found myself replaying our conversation over and over again, feeling bad that I'd left so abruptly and dreading having to go down to dinner later, because I knew it was going to be tense and awkward.

A knock at my door a little while later tugged me out of my thoughts. I absentmindedly noted as I got up to open the door that instead of organizing my desk, I'd lined everything up on top of it in order of largest to smallest item – a little random and certainly not intentional.

When I opened the door, I found Alex on the other side and I almost closed the door on his face.

"I'm really not in the mood right now," I said, not shutting the door, but also not moving to let him inside.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Alex said, concerned.

"Well I'm not," I admitted. I was tired of playing the game where I pretend, I'm fine all the time. "I'm having a rough day and really just need some time to myself."

I moved to shut the door, but Alex shoved his foot between it and the doorframe and pushed it all the way open, forcing himself inside the classroom.

"Okay, so talk to me about it," Alex insisted. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Don't you get it?" I demanded. My eyes started to sting as unwelcome tears started welling up in them. "I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to talk period. I want to be alone."

"Nobody wants to be alone."

"I do," I insisted. "There's nobody here who can understand how I feel, and I'm not in the mood to try and explain myself."

"That's a lot different than wanting to be alone," Alex pointed out.

I had to take a deep breath to keep from punching his smug face. "Fine, whatever, I don't want to be alone, but I sure as hell don't want you here, so _go away_!"

"I'm not going anywhere while I know that you're upset," Alex declared obstinately. He planted himself in a chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Ugh!" I cried, infuriated. In a huff, I collapsed into my chair behind my desk and dropped my head into my hands. "Why do you even care? Just go hang out with Skye and Cameron and forget about me."

"I do care," Alex insisted, leaning forward. "I care about you. I don't like seeing you upset."

"Well newsflash," I declared. "I'm going to be upset sometimes. Deal with it."

"Of course you are," Alex agreed. "But I won't be able to just ignore it when you are."

"So what are you going to do?" I demanded. "Just sit there and watch me fall apart?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess that's up to you."

I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. He was being ridiculous and annoying and I wished he would just leave me alone so that I could have my meltdown in privacy. Except that when I thought about that, I realized that I really didn't want him to leave. I didn't want to be alone – he was right about that. I liked knowing that at least one person cared that I wasn't okay.

"It's stupid really," I said after a long silence. I wasn't sure what had prompted me to start talking, but once I did, I couldn't stop. "And Skye didn't mean anything by it, I know that. Her words were just a catalyst for everything I was already feeling."

Alex stayed quiet while I talked, and I appreciated him so much more for it.

"And it's not that I'm bitter, or depressed, or anything like that," I continued. "It's not like I'm walking around constantly feeling inferior to all of you. In fact, over the past little while I've really started to feel like I'm fitting in. I've been feeling really good and like I'm a part of something."

"But?" Alex prompted when I paused for too long.

"But no matter how much I feel like I'm fitting in, the truth is I never can. Not truly. I'll never be one of you. I'll never be a witch. I'll never be able to do anything magical. And when I leave here one day, whether that be a year from now or longer, you'll all forget about me and hire some new teacher to take my place and nothing will really have changed. But I'll go away from here and I'll always know that there's more out there that I can't see or experience, and I'll always know I'm missing out."

Alex stood and pulled a chair up next to me and then sat down again, taking my hand in his and forcing me to look him in the eye.

"Okay first of all, we're not just going to forget about you the minute you walk out that door, whenever that might be," he said. "You're a person just like any other person, and we'll all remember you the same way we remember other people we've met."

"That's not really my – "

"Let me finish," Alex interjected.

I nodded and shut my mouth.

"Second of all, you should know that being magical isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, we can do things that you can't, but there are things muggles can do that witches and wizards can't do too."

"Give me one example," I challenged him.

"Alright," Alex nodded. "Credit cards."

"Credit cards?" I asked, completely shocked at his answer. "What about them?"

"They're ingenious!" Alex insisted. "For one thing, you don't have to carry all your money around with you all the time. Let me tell you, it gets exhausting having pockets full of coins all day long. Plus, then you have to have hiding places in your house to store your money. With a credit card, you just put one almost weightless card in your pocket and you're good to go. And if someone were to break into my house and steal my galleons, they would just be gone, but when a credit card is stolen, you can deactivate it and then it's completely useless. Not to mention, if you don't have enough money to buy something in the wizarding world, then you have to go to Gringotts and apply for a loan, but with a credit card, they'll actually let you spend more money than you have as long as they eventually get the money back."

I couldn't help it. Somewhere during Alex's big rant about credit cards, I found myself laughing. It was so ridiculous. Was he really comparing not having the ability to do magic with not having a credit card?

"You know, a lot of muggles don't have credit cards," I pointed out.

"And a lot of wizards are terrible at spells," Alex retorted. "Besides, I'm not saying it's a perfect analogy, I'm just saying that sometimes when I'm lugging around a sack full of coins, I find myself really jealous of muggles for the simplicity of their financial system."

While a part of me was convinced that Alex had completely missed my point, another part of me appreciated his comparison and attempt to empathize. And while he may not have fixed anything, I did surprisingly feel better.

I sighed. "I guess not having magic is just something I'm going to have to get used to," I said. "Or rather, knowing it exists, but that I can't use it."

Alex nodded. "I get that that's tough," he said. "But there's something else you should keep in mind too."

"What's that?" I wondered.

"When you're teaching your classes and you cover things like phones and social media, your students are going to be sitting there, learning for the first time about something they never knew existed, and just like you with magic, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that the thing they've just learned about is something that exists and that they're probably never going to properly experience for themselves."

I opened my mouth to argue the point, but then closed it. Alex did have a point there. Even if one of my students got themselves a phone, none of their friends would have one, so they'd have nobody to text. If they made themselves an Instagram account, they wouldn't have anyone to follow besides muggle strangers. They'd never experience these things the same way that muggles do. So in a way, it was kind of the same.

"Yeah, you're right," I realized. "Hey, thank you. For not leaving when I told you to."

Alex grinned. "Anytime," he replied. "Now come on, it's time for dinner."


	13. September the First

Chapter 13: September the First

Before I knew it, it was September the first, and suddenly everyone all over the castle was preparing for a sudden influx of students. The heads of the four houses (Neville for Gryffindor, Hannah for Hufflepuff, Tessa for Ravenclaw, and Andromeda Tonks, the transfiguration professor, for Slytherin) were frantically trying to ensure that the common rooms and dormitories were ready for habitation. Hagrid was preparing the thestrals (a creature I understood to be some kind of invisible winged horse) and magical boats for the students' trip from the train station. Professor Stern had been put in charge of getting the Great Hall set up again for mealtimes, which apparently meant that there would be four long tables for the students to sit at through the main portion of the room, and a fifth table at the head of the room for the teachers. I had to admit, I wasn't looking forward to eating my meals from on high, looking down at a room full of adolescent witches and wizards. Meanwhile, the rest of us were finalizing lesson plans, preparing for the start of lessons tomorrow, and anxiously awaiting our schedules.

There was a meeting scheduled for that afternoon, prior to the students' arrival, where we would be receiving our timetables with our classes listed on it, as well as our schedules for patrols and other teacherly responsibilities. While we would all have our share of free time, we would also have to spend a great deal of time supervising the various common areas of the castle, in particular the Great Hall during meals.

The whole thing felt rather last-minute and disorganized. For one thing, I was getting my schedule _literally_ the day before classes were to start. I had no idea whether I would be starting my day tomorrow teaching third years about office supplies, or seventh years about muggle theories of the origin of the universe. Or even if I would be starting my day teaching at all. Maybe I would have free periods all morning. As an elective teacher, I would surely have a lot of those.

And on top of that, I wasn't going to get my full class rosters until tomorrow morning. Apparently sixth year students waited until breakfast on the first day of classes to choose their courses, which I thought was absurd. They obviously already know which classes they want to take, so why not pre-register? And instead of making me wait for just that one roster, Headmaster Slinkhard had informed me that all five class rosters would magically appear on my office desk at the conclusion of breakfast the following morning. So I had no idea who I was going to be teaching – not that I knew any of the students anyway. But it might have been nice to have been able to practice saying their names out loud before doing roll call aloud.

I didn't attend lunch, instead partaking of some of the food left by the elves in my quarters and enjoying some of the last bits of solitude before an influx of teenagers. Over the past month, I'd become accustomed to Hogwarts castle, to the pace and the lifestyle of living here. All that was about to change though, and I had to admit, I was more than a little nervous.

At one o'clock, I headed to the teacher's lounge for the big meeting. I joined Skye, Alex, and Cameron on one of the couches and waited for Headmaster Slinkhard to address us.

"How are you doing, Katie?" Alex asked when I arrived.

"Oh, you know, pretty good," I replied as nonchalantly as possible.

Alex made a reassuring face. "It'll be fine," he promised me. "I was nervous too this time last year. But the students are great – for the most part. And once you get used to them being here and the new routine, you'll be fine.

"Thanks," I smiled. He was right. And he'd been through this too. Every one of these teachers had been through this their first year. While the fact that I was a muggle was always a factor, for once it wasn't the thing that was most bothering me. I would probably be just as nervous if this was a non-magical school. It was about the unknown more than anything else. My life had been turned upside down a month ago when I'd arrived here, and now it was about to happen again.

Headmaster Slinkhard arrived then and began the meeting with a speech about the importance of education and how we were all doing a wonderful thing, shaping the minds of tomorrow. It was a pretty bland speech to be honest. I'd been hoping for something a little more inspiring.

The Headmaster went over some of the more important rules to keep in mind, reminded us of the hierarchy of power (regular teachers, heads of house, deputy headmaster, and then finally headmaster), and then finally passed around our schedules.

I grabbed mine like a starving man grabbing for a loaf of bread and immediately began pouring over it.

The first thing I noticed was that I had Thursdays completely off. No classes to teach, no patrols to do, no meals to supervise, nothing. It was like a gift I hadn't been expecting at all, and while I had no idea what I could possibly do with my day off, I was glad to have it.

The next thing I noticed was that I had a lot of shifts in the Great Hall. I'd been told to expect that though. As an elective teacher, I had much more free time during classes for lesson prep and whatnot, while the teachers that taught core curriculum courses had a much fuller workload. As such, they had less mealtime shifts.

I also noted that I'd gotten two night patrols, on Sundays and Wednesdays. My schedule didn't indicate who I would be doing my patrols with, but I immediately glanced over at my friends' schedules and noted happily that I had my Wednesday night patrols with Alex.

"Pretty decent schedule this year," Alex commented next to me. "Thursday mornings off, and not too many breakfast shifts."

"But you don't have any days off," I commented sadly, glancing over his schedule quickly. I also noted that he only had one breakfast shift, while I had three.

"Didn't have one last year either," he replied. "Most people don't. I don't mind though. As long as I have a couple of half-days I'm fine."

"Then why did I get my entire Thursdays off?" I wondered, confused. I'd figured it was normal to have a day off somewhere in the schedule, even if it couldn't be on the weekend.

"Slinkhard's probably figuring you'll need it," Alex replied. "Once the students get here, the culture shock will be a lot more intense. You'll probably need a day to yourself every now and then. This guarantees you one each week."

My first instinct was to protest and insist that if nobody else had a day off, then I shouldn't get one either. But then I thought better of it. Alex was right. I would probably come to need it soon. Not necessarily because of the culture shock, but just because of the 24/7 work schedule. Even when I was technically not scheduled for anything, I'd still be working. Making lesson plans, grading papers, meeting with students… Even just walking the halls of the castle I'd be working, as long as students were around. A day to myself wouldn't be so bad.

With the meeting wrapped up, everything started happening as if in fast forward. I had my schedule, so now it was time to plan. It was a Sunday, which made the next day a Monday. The schedule didn't start until tomorrow, so I didn't have to worry about my Sunday night patrol tonight. The four Heads of House would be responsible for night patrol tonight, as they were every September first.

I didn't have to supervise breakfast on Monday, which I was extremely grateful for. It meant I could get up early and go to my classroom and prep before first period. Which I would be teaching.

I had the third years first thing the next morning. That should be simple enough. Third years would be learning about culture and daily life, and my first unit for them would be muggle office supplies. So I planned to spend the hour passing around various items from the supply cupboard and letting them test them out. I decided I wouldn't assign any homework the first class.

After my third year class, I didn't have any more classes all morning. I was scheduled to supervise lunch, which meant I had to be in the Great Hall, at the high table, from eleven o'clock until noon. At least I wouldn't be the only teacher there. A minimum of two teachers had to supervise each meal, and on top of that, many of the other teachers would likely pop in and out throughout the hour to eat their lunch, assuming they didn't take it elsewhere.

I only had one class in the afternoon, and it would be the fifth years. While technically their first unit was meant to be on electricity and power, I decided to wait until the second class to dive into that topic. For our first lesson, I would do much the same as with the third years, except accelerated. I would familiarize them with the office supply cupboard and try to ascertain how much they had retained from their previous two years in the subject with Professor Carborough.

I was scheduled to have my office hours Monday and Wednesdays after classes were finished. I suspected that I wouldn't have too many students knocking on my door on the first day of classes, but I could use the time in my office to prepare for the rest of the week. It would also be a good time to revise any part of the fifth year syllabus I felt needed revising once I figured out what level the students in the class were at.

I was scheduled to supervise dinner Monday night as well. Dinner was longer than lunch by an hour, and I wasn't particularly looking forward to sitting in the Great Hall for a full two hours with nothing to do but watch students. Sure, I would have to eat for some of that time, but it certainly wasn't going to take me two hours to eat. I wondered if it would be unprofessional to bring a book to read, and decided that it would be. I was supposed to be paying attention to the students, not immersed in a fictional world.

My day would end with a two hour hall patrol following dinner. Daytime hall patrols were significantly less organized than night patrols. All I really would have to do would be to wander the halls for a couple of hours. There was no set path that I was required to take, so long as I made sure not to circle the same corridors repeatedly. The purpose was just to have a faculty presence around the halls. If I saw anyone misbehaving, I had the authority to dock points or hand out detentions as I saw fit.

I hadn't had a chance yet to properly compare my schedule with those of my friends, but I was sure to have more overlap with them than that one night patrol with Alex. As for the rest of the shifts, I would probably have supervisory shifts with just about everyone on the staff, so I would likely be getting to know some of them better than I did now.

It was starting to get closer to dinnertime, which meant it was time to get ready for the welcome feast. I headed back to my quarters and tried to decide what I was going to wear.

When I'd first gotten to the castle, I'd tried to dress professionally at all times, since technically this was a job. But I'd quickly realized that muggle fashion was so foreign to everyone here that they couldn't tell the different between classy work attire and sweatpants. So I'd started dressing more casually. But with the students coming tonight, I wanted to make a good impression.

I carefully looked through my many clothes until I came upon the right outfit. I chose a black pencil skirt with a ruffle-y black blouse. I figured going with black would be best as it would blend the best with everyone's black robes. It wasn't that I didn't want to – or intend to – stand out, but maybe not on the first night. I added a nice pair of black heels to complete the ensemble and threw my hair up into a tight bun. I pulled a few wisps of hair out to frame my face and considered the look complete.

My anxiety starting to get the best of me, I started pacing the room, slowly at first, and then more quickly. This was it, the moment of truth. The train arrived at Hogsmeade station at five o'clock, and then shortly after that the students would be flooding into the school like a wave of magical energy.

I was excited as much as I was nervous. In such a large castle as this, with less than two dozen people in it, I hadn't really experienced much in the way of witnessing constant daily magic. Sure, I'd seen my colleagues cast spells from time to time, and I'd seen Skye fly more than a few times, but I hadn't really gotten the full effect yet. With the students arriving, I felt sure I was going to be seeing some things I wouldn't be forgetting soon.

Quarter to five came, and I gathered myself up and began to head to the Great Hall. All teachers besides Hagrid, who would be escorting the first years to the castle, were to be ready and waiting for the students at the head table when they arrived.

We'd all been given assigned seating at the head table. While seating during meals had been more of a sit wherever experience until now, order and structure would be the new rules now that term was starting. I'd been assigned a seat on the far left of the table, with Skye on one side of me and Martha from the hospital wing on the other. I was rather pleased with the arrangement. At least I wasn't sitting between Hannah and Tessa. Or between Filch and Mark Stern. The only downside was that Cameron and Alex were seated on the complete opposite side of the table, which meant no chance of being able to chat with them at meals.

Everyone took their seats in the empty Hall and a strange silence fell upon us all as Headmaster Slinkhard took his place at the center seat. Nobody said much of anything as we waited quietly and with bated breath for the silence to break.

I heard them before I saw them. It started out as a low rumble. Footsteps on the stairs outside, and then the sound of voices, loud and gleeful and excited. And then the doors to the Great Hall swung open and hoards of students began pouring into the room, clamoring to their respective tables. There was shouting, greetings thrown from one end of the room to the other, waves to each other and to the teachers, and just a general cacophony.

I continued to sit quietly as Skye waved merrily to a few of her students, and Martha turned to Agatha on her other side and started pointing out various students and how grown they were looking.

I didn't know where to look. There were so many faces, and so much movement, that I couldn't focus on any one individual student. The waves of black kept on pouring in, presumably as the flying thestral-horses continued to deliver more students to the front doors. Slowly, the onslaught of students began to peter out, and the seats in the hall began to fill up. The activity started to die down as students took their seats, and then like magic, without having to be told by anyone, the entire room fell into a hushed silence once again.

Three knocks rang throughout the room as someone pounded on the now closed doors of the hall.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Professor Slinkhard rose, nodded once, and then the double doors reopened, and a stream of young children began to file into the room, each one looking more nervous than the rest.

"First years," Skye whispered to me by way of explanation. "They'll have to be sorted before the feast can begin."

"Sorted?" I frowned. Nobody had mentioned a sorting to me before now.

Skye nodded. "Into one of the four houses. It shouldn't take long."

Professor Longbottom emerged from the trophy room behind the Great Hall with a tattered-looking hat on a stool, and placed them both at the front and center of the room, just in front of the teacher's table. As the first years all gathered around it, the low chatter than had started while the first years were entering the room died back down and Professor Longbottom unrolled a large scroll.

The sorting was nothing like I would have expected. Skye explained that the tattered had – the Sorting Hat, she called it – was enchanted to be able to see into someone's mind and identify the house that they're best suited to based on their various attributes. Personally I couldn't get past the fact that these eleven-year-olds were allowing a vessel without a brain to delve into their minds, but I supposed it wasn't as big a deal to them as it was to me. At least nobody was asking me to get sorted.

"What house were you in?" I asked Skye curiously.

"Gryffindor," she replied proudly. "House of the brave."

"House of the reckless," I muttered. I'd learned a bit about the four houses in my time here and knew that Gryffindors were the ones to watch out for the most when it came to rule-breaking.

Skye didn't correct me, and I smirked as we watched the sorting go on. Somehow, the hat divided the group of eleven-year olds almost perfectly evenly amongst the four houses. I wondered if this was coincidence, or magic, or what, but then told myself I probably didn't want to think too hard on that.

With the sorting done, it was time for Headmaster Slinkhard to give his welcome speech. He stood, raised his hands for silence, and then addressed the room.

"Welcome," he said merrily, "to another wonderful and magical year at Hogwarts."


	14. Butterphants in my Stomach

Chapter 14: Butterphants in my Stomach

"Now we've had one significant change in staffing this year," Headmaster Slinkhard continued. "As some of you may be aware, Professor Carborough has elected to leave us and begin to enjoy the perks of retirement."

I leaned forward and glanced at Hannah when the Headmaster said this, remembering our conversation in my office. Professor Carborough hadn't retired, he's been fired. I glanced at Skye and wondered how many people knew the real truth.

"As such, we have a new teacher on staff this year," Headmaster Slinkhard went on. "Professor Harris has agreed to take on the position of Professor of Muggle Studies. Let's all make sure that she feels welcome."

A smattering of applause sounded from the room and Skye elbowed me in the side.

"You're supposed to stand," she muttered.

Not having expected this, I nervously pushed out my chair and stood up, waving to the crowd of students awkwardly and then sitting back down again as quickly as possible.

As I did so, the room broke out into muttering and whispering. I couldn't hear most of what was being said, but I heard bits and pieces from some of the students at the table nearest me.

"What is she wearing?"

"Where are her robes?"

"She looks like she's going to faint!"

I turned to Skye and poked her in the shoulder. "Skye, do I really look like I'm about to faint?" I demanded, panicking.

Skye made a face. "Well you didn't, but you sure do now," she replied.

I swallowed and tried to pull myself together. "Why didn't the Headmaster tell them?" I wondered, stressed out about the big elephant in the room that nobody was addressing.

"Tell them what?" Skye asked.

"That I'm a muggle," I replied. "They know something's different, but they can't tell what it is. Are we supposed to be hiding that fact? I was under the impression they'd hired a muggle on purpose."

"Of course he doesn't mean for you to hide that you're a muggle," Skye assured me. "I suspect he's just leaving it to you to introduce yourself the way you want to your classes."

"Great," I muttered, turning back to the room at large. "So all the pressure's on me."

The Headmaster completed his speech and then the welcome feast began. It was the most elaborate spread of food I'd seen since being here and all of it was delicious. I hadn't thought I'd be hungry, what with the nerves and all, but it turned out I had quite the appetite, and I ate my fill, finding I was even enjoying myself.

When the ghosts made their entrance, the frightened shrieks from some of the first years reassured me. Perhaps my being a muggle wouldn't be such the handicap that I'd thought it would be if they were reacting to the castle in a similar way to how I had. And there were the muggle born students as well, who would be in the exact same boat as me, never having known about magic until now. If they could adapt, then so could I.

The end of the feast came, and Headmaster Slinkhard made a few final comments before the students began to file out of the hall and head for their respective dormitories. The teachers waited until the hall had completely emptied out before taking off ourselves.

"Game of exploding snap before turning in?" Skye offered as we met up with Alex and Cameron. "Teacher's lounge will be pretty empty with all the Heads on patrol."

"I'll take a raincheck," I announced. "I want to turn in early, make sure I'm well rested for tomorrow."

"Same," Alex agreed. "I've got the seventh years first thing, so I've got to be at the top of my game."

"And I've got breakfast duty," Cameron added. "So I'll have to be up pretty early."

Skye sighed. "You guys are so boring," she muttered. "Why can't flying classes start first thing? You all start teaching tomorrow and I have to wait another two weeks."

"Why is that?" I wondered.

Skye shrugged. "Flying classes aren't technically a part of the curriculum," she replied. "They're almost like a mandatory extracurricular. And the school likes to give the first years a chance to settle in with their regular classes before starting mine."

I nodded. I supposed this made sense somehow.

After a few more minutes dawdling in the Great Hall, the four of us said our goodnights and went our separate ways.

True to my word, I went straight back to my quarters and climbed right into bed. Even though it was early still, I didn't want to risk being tired in my first lesson, so I laid in bed staring at the ceiling until I felt sleep enough that I fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning to the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. Except that they weren't butterflies, they felt more like elephants. Big giant elephants with butterfly wings flying around and knocking into the sides of my stomach over and over again. Butterphants. There were butterphants in my stomach.

Despite the butterphants, I got myself out of bed, took a quick shower, and then tried to decide what I was going to wear. Last night, I'd gone for professional muggle while trying to blend in as much as possible. I'd worn all black so that I wouldn't stand out quite as much from everyone else wearing their black robes. Today, I decided to take a different approach.

If today was the day I revealed to everyone that I was a muggle, then today was the day I was going to stop being able to blend in. No matter what I chose to wear, I would always stand out. So I chose a classic Katie Harris look. A flouncy blue and purple patterned skirt with a white blouse, and the same heels I'd worn last night. I left my hair down today, deciding that I didn't want to come off strict or aloof with my tight bun.

I grabbed a muffin as my breakfast and headed out, wanting to get to my office to prep before first period.

As I walked through the halls, I found myself passing various groups of students headed in various directions. It was strange, because until now the hallways had been almost solely mine, and now I was suddenly sharing them with hundreds of other people.

I smiled and nodded at each student that I passed, and while I noticed many of them puzzling over my appearance, I ignored them. The news would be out soon. I could only imagine a wizarding high school would be much the same as a muggle one in one important respect; gossip. The speed at which it had travelled in my high school had been astounding, and I expected nothing less from Hogwarts. Once the third years had been informed of my lack of magical abilities, the whole school would surely know within the hour.

I reached my classroom and started by making sure the classroom was all in order. I straightened some desks and chairs, ensured that the supply cupboard was well organized, and then ensconced myself in my office to psych myself up.

At least I was starting with the third years. It would be their first time taking the course, which meant there would be nothing to compare it to. They wouldn't remember Professor Carborough's teaching, because they'd never have experienced it. They would be my blank slates.

The fifth years this afternoon would be the challenges.

As I read over my lesson plans, which weren't very exciting since it was only the first lesson, a soft glowing light suddenly came into being. I glanced in the direction of the light, and saw that it was like an outline of something, rectangular in shape. The glowing intensified for a moment, and then diminished and disappeared, and in it's place were a stack of parchment that hadn't been there before.

I reached for the first in the stack and realized they were my class lists. The one at the top was for the seventh years, so I rifled through the pile until I came to the pile for the third years. I could worry about the rest later.

It appeared that there would be nineteen students in my first class. The list included both the names of the students, as well as their respective houses, which I appreciated. I noted that it was an almost perfectly even split between the four houses, and wondered again if this was coincidence or some kind of magic at work. Whatever it was, I supposed it was good that a wide range of students wanted to take my class.

I heard a noise from my classroom, and in a panic, I crept over to my office door and peeked around it to see what it was. As soon as I did, I jumped away from the door and felt the butterphants return in full force. It was my students. They were starting to arrive.

Pulling myself together, I went back to my desk and gathered all the materials I thought I would need for the lesson and then waited in the doorway, hidden by the door being almost closed, but able to spy through the small crack between the not quite closed door and the frame. I waited until there were nineteen bodies sitting in the chairs, and then I took a deep breath, opened the door fully, and walked out into the room.

"Good morning everybody," I greeted them all. The room quieted almost immediately and nineteen little faces all turned to look at me. Great. The butterphants tried even harder to escape the prison of my stomach.

"As I'm sure you remember from Headmaster Slinkhard's introduction yesterday, my name is Professor Harris, and I'll be your Muggle Studies teacher this year."

A small girl with a yellow and black tie – Hufflepuff, I recalled – raised her hand timidly.

"Your name please?" I asked her, before letting her ask her question.

"Sarah Clarke," the girl replied.

I glanced down at my class roster and confirmed that she was on it.

"Go ahead Sarah," I allowed.

"If you don't mind me asking… it's just, everybody's been wondering… Why aren't you wearing robes?" she wondered.

I nodded to indicate that I'd heard the question, and then took a deep breath. Turning around, I dumped the documents I'd been carrying on the desk behind me and then turned to face the class again.

"That is an excellent question," I replied. "Thank you for bringing it up."

Sarah smiled, and I felt good for congratulating her. I wanted to be a nice teacher, one the students liked and felt comfortable talking to. I wanted to foster positive relationships with my students and that started now.

"There is one thing Headmaster Slinkhard did not mention when he introduced me last night," I began. "Something very different about me that actually makes me uniquely suited to teach this class." I paused, hoping that it would seem like a dramatic pause, when really I just needed another second or two to gather up the courage to say what needed to be said.

"I'm a muggle," I finally announced.

For a moment, nobody said anything. All nineteen of my students just sat and stared at me with wide eyes as they processed the information I'd just told them.

"Wait… seriously?" a girl wearing a green and silver tie – Slytherin – gaped, her nose wrinkling slightly.

I'd been warned about the Slytherin students. Of all the houses, they were the ones by far who were most likely to have a problem with me. Something to do with their traditional values, I'd been told.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Headmaster Slinkhard thought it was time that this class be taught by someone who knew exactly what she was talking about."

"Why not just bring in a muggle-born teacher?" one of the boys at the back piped up.

"While muggle-borns do grow up in the muggle world as children, they don't continue to experience it the same way muggles do once they join the magical community. During their schooling, they spend ten months of the year in a magical environment, and only two in a muggle environment. And then after their schooling is done, the vast majority elect to abandon the muggle world and integrate completely with the magical." I'd prepared this speech carefully, knowing that the question was going to come up. It seemed to satisfy the boy in the back, but not the Slytherin girl near the front.

"Is this even legal?" she demanded. "What about the International Statute of Secrecy? You shouldn't even know we exist, let alone be here."

"If you have any questions like that, I would suggest that you direct them to Headmaster Slinkhard," I declared, knowing that nobody was going to question the Headmaster. "He's the one that hired me, and I assure you, he did not do so on a whim."

I fielded a few more questions, and once the shock and surprise wore off, I felt that most of the students were accepting my presence pretty well. The battle wasn't over yet though. There was one more thing I needed to do, and I knew it was going to be unpopular.

"Now as this is a muggle studies class," I announced, reaching into the top drawer of my desk and producing the basket I'd procured for this very purpose. "I would like us to do our best while in this classroom to try and experience and understand muggle life to the best of our ability." Most of the students were nodding along, but I suspected their agreement wouldn't last for long.

"As such, from now on, whenever you enter this classroom, I am going to insist that you leave your wands in this basket."

The class immediately went into an uproar.

I raised my hands and tried to calm them. "Settle down, settle down, just hear me out," I insisted above cried of 'you can't do that' and 'this has to be a violation of our rights'.

"I'm not confiscating your wands," I assured them. "This is an elective class, and therefore participation is voluntary. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then you are more than welcome to choose a different elective class to take." The students didn't seem too happy with this statement.

"Furthermore," I continued. "I'm only asking you to relinquish your wands while you stand within the four walls of this classroom. Consider it a magic-free zone. I'm not singling anybody out, the rule will apply to everybody."

"Does Headmaster Slinkhard know about this?" the Slytherin girl demanded.

I nodded. "Headmaster Slinkhard is in full support of my plan," I informed her, belatedly realizing I probably should have run this by him. "I'm trying to teach you about the muggle experience. I can't do that if you're casting spells all through class."

"What if you just ban the use of magic?" a boy with a blue and bronze tie I identified as Ravenclaw colors, asked. "Why take away our wands on top of it?"

"Just banning magic doesn't ensure you won't use it," I informed him. I didn't mention that there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to tell if they were using it or not. "My rule stands. If you're not comfortable, you can feel free to leave."

I waited a beat, expecting at least the grumpy Slytherin girl to walk out, but nobody did.

"Alright," I said, feeling pretty good. "Then put your wands in the basket and let's get started."


	15. An Alright First Day

Chapter 15: An Alright First Day

I arrived in the Great Hall fifteen minutes early for lunch. There hadn't been too many guidelines for mealtime supervisory shifts, beyond just 'watch the students', so I didn't know what to expect from it. Professor Tonks was my fellow supervisor, so I waited for her to arrive with the intention of letting her take the lead.

"Do we need to do anything in particular?" I asked her as she took her seat. The first trickles of students were making their way in for lunch, and I wondered if we were supposed to talk to them at all.

"Just sit and keep an eye out," Professor Tonks replied. "We're just here in case there's an incident, but typically nothing ever happens."

"Right," I nodded, taking my own seat and looking out at the room. So far, there was only a smattering of students, but the rest would surely be here soon.

While I knew I had a full hour during which I would need to sit here, and that it would make the most sense to take my time eating my lunch, I was also starving. The muffin I'd had for breakfast had long since done its job and my nerves were reduced enough that I was ready to eat some real food. I took a look at the options before me and decided that a bowl of soup would do nicely. I grabbed a roll to go with it and focused on that for a while.

"Hey," Skye said about fifteen minutes later, plopping herself down in her seat next to me. "How's first day treating you?"

"It's been good so far," I replied honestly. "Had a bit of a rocky start with the third years, but we got past it. The rest of the lesson went alright."

"And the big reveal?" Skye wondered, knowing that this had been my primary concern.

I shrugged. "It's out there now." I gestured to the sea of students, all chattering and gossiping. From up here, it was just a low rumble of voices. "Who knows, maybe that's what they're all talking about now. Either way, it needed to get out there. If someone doesn't want to take my class, they don't have to."

"Good on you," Skye said proudly, taking a huge bite out of her sandwich. "I've had quite the morning myself. All four Quidditch captains have been down to the pitch already trying to book their tryout times. I told them all that they should wait a few days to see how things pan out, but they were all insistent. A group of keeners, this year."

"I suppose all the Quidditch will keep you pretty busy as well," I observed, not having thought about all the time Skye would have to be supervising the pitch.

"Not really," Skye shook her head. "I am in charge of the pitch schedule, but I don't have to supervise team practices. The captains are more than qualified to keep an eye on six other students. I'm only required to supervise during free fly time, and that's only two hours, three times a week."

"That's not so bad," I commented.

"It's really not," Skye agreed. "Anyway, I should be getting back. The captains have already submitted their requests for pitch time for the first term and now I have to coordinate who gets which slots. It's going to be tough, they've all put in requests for way more pitch time than I have to give."

"Well good luck," I shot after her, even as Skye was getting up and already on her way out of the room.

Before I even had the chance to have a thought of my own, someone else sat themselves down in the chair Skye had just vacated.

"Alex?" I frowned. "What are you doing over here? You're supposed to sit on the other end of the table."

Alex shrugged. "Who cares?" he asked. "It's not like Skye's using the seat anymore, and Slinkhard's not here either."

I thought about pointing out that rule breaking is rule breaking, no matter who's watching, but decided against it.

"So how's the first day going?" Alex wondered.

"Smoother than anticipated," I replied honestly. I'd thought I would get a lot more resistance to my being a muggle and my classroom wand ban. The fact that nobody had walked out had been a huge relief to me. Then again, that was only the third years. The older students would be another thing altogether.

"That's good," Alex replied. "And you're feeling confident about this afternoon's class?"

"As confident as I can, I suppose," I replied. "But then, they are fifth years, so they'll be a different experience entirely."

"Have you got your class list on you?" Alex wondered.

I shook my head. "No, it's back in my office."

"Huh," Alex muttered. "Well I've got next period free. If you want, I can take a look at it, give you a feel for some of the students. The ones I know at least."

"That would actually be really great!" I exclaimed. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd really appreciate it."

"No problem at all," Alex replied. "We can head up right now if you want. You look about done with that soup."

"Oh, I'm actually supervising lunch right now," I replied. "But as soon as it's over?"

"Yeah, I'll wait with you," Alex said, leaning back in his chair and stuffing a whole roll into his mouth.

I stayed in the Great Hall until the dot of noon, even after the last of the students had left. Professor Tonks nodded at me once the shift was officially over, and then she got up and left the room.

"Alright, we've got one hour until your fifth-year class," Alex said. "Let's see who you'll be teaching."

When we arrived in my office, I took a seat at my desk, and Alex sat across from me. I reached into my top drawer and produced the stack of rosters that had magically appeared on my desk that morning and located the one for the fifth years, passing it over to Alex for examination.

"Okay, looks like a pretty even mix of houses," Alex commented first.

"Is that normal?" I wondered. My third years had been pretty evenly mixed as well.

Alex shrugged. "It can be. It's not surprising to say the least."

I accepted his answer and let him read over the names.

"Not too many of these students take ancient runes," Alex commented, sounding disappointed. "I'd definitely watch out for Julia Bains."

"Bains?" I repeated, leaning forward and locating the name on the parchment. She was identified as a Slytherin. I put a star next to her name.

"If anyone's going to provide any kind of opposition, it'll be her," Alex informed me. "The other Slytherins will back her up, but she'll be your biggest challenge."

"Okay, noted," I muttered, mentally preparing myself. "Anyone else I should be aware of?"

"Brandon Bates," Alex said, pointing the individual out on the sheet. I put a star next to his name as well. "He's in Ravenclaw and thinks he's a lot smarter than he is. He'll try to pretend like he knows things when he really doesn't. Don't let him pretend to know more than you."

"I don't think anyone's going to try to pretend to know more about muggle culture than a muggle," I joked. "Is he even a muggle-born?"

"He's not," Alex shook his head. "But that won't dissuade him."

I nodded, committing this information to memory. He may be another challenge.

"Oh, and these two students here, Philip Longman and Kate Sparks?" Alex pointed to both names. "Don't pair them up together for anything if you can avoid it. Assuming nothing changed over the summer, the two are dating and completely useless at anything when they're around each other."

"Hmm," I mused. "Is assigned seating a thing at Hogwarts?"

"Not really," Alex shook his head. "But I wouldn't hesitate to separate them if you feel you need to."

"Okay," I nodded, putting little hearts next to those two names to remember. "So Julia Bains, Brandon Bates, and Philip Longman and Kate Sparks. Anyone else?"

Alex shook his head. "Nobody else I know enough about," he replied. "But let's take a look at those other lists."

We spent the rest of the hour going through each of my other four class lists, identifying students to watch and students to watch out for. Alex wasn't much help with the third year list, given that he hadn't taught any of them yet, but I'd already had them this morning and felt that I had a decent enough grip on them. His insights into the other four years however, were invaluable, and I was extremely grateful for his help.

"Well, fifth period should be starting soon, and I know you have your own class to get to," I said as we started coming dangerously close to one o'clock. "I wouldn't want you to be late."

"Good point," Alex agreed. "Probably wouldn't look too good on the first day."

"Thanks for all the help," I said. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime," Alex said, winking at me, and causing me to blush just a little bit. "I'll see you at dinner?"

I nodded. "I'm supervising it, so I'll definitely be there," I replied.

"Looks like we're supervising together then!" Alex replied with a smile.

"Oh, awesome!" I smiled back. Dinner was sure to be much more boring than lunch, as it was a two hour shift instead of one. At least Alex would have to suffer through the whole thing with me.

"See you later," Alex said, getting up from his chair and heading for the door. When he reached it, he paused, and turned around, smirking at me. "By the way," he added. "You're really cute when you blush."

I know I blushed way redder than I had before at that, but thankfully he was already out the door. I found myself smiling to myself at his comment, feeling almost like a schoolgirl myself. Alex was friendly, smart, good-looking, seemed to enjoy spending time with me, and certainly seemed like he was interested. And I was interested too. If something were to happen there, I would definitely want to see where it could be headed.

The sounds of students filtering into my classroom pulled me out of thoughts of my feelings about Alex, and I remembered that there were much more pressing matters at hand. Julia Bains, Brandon Bates, Philip Longman, Kate Sparks, and sixteen other fifteen-year-olds were currently taking their seats in my class and would be expecting a teacher shortly.

I pulled myself together and took another look at my roster, saying the names over in my head one last time in the hopes that I didn't mess them up when I said them out loud. I had the wand basket stowed in my classroom desk, and I prayed that things went at least as well as they had this morning. Then I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked out into the room.

The fifth years turned out to be more of a challenge than the third years, but that was to be expected. As predicted, Julia Bains was the most troublesome of all, going so far as to stand and begin walking out of the room when I informed her and the class that if they didn't like my wand ban, they could leave. She thought she was calling my bluff, and once she realized how serious I was, things calmed down and she took her seat and submitted to the class rules. I knew things weren't over yet.

I didn't end up having to separate Philip and Kate that day, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Alex was right and that they would prove more problematic come the drier lecture days that were coming up. As for Brandon Bates, he didn't say too much either, but I didn't rule him out as a potential problem quite yet.

The announcement that I was a muggle had less of a surprise factor than it had that morning. Word had clearly spread, and it was as if they were expecting it. That didn't mean I didn't get any resistance, mostly from the group of four Slytherins. I honestly had to wonder why these Slytherins were even taking my class with such anti-muggle values, but then, I shouldn't have been judging so harshly, and I certainly didn't want to start stereotyping by house. Even though it was made so easy by the color differences in their ties.

After my fifth-year class was over, I stayed in my office for the remainder of the afternoon. Technically from three until five, I had office hours, but as predicted, nobody came to them on the first day of school when I'd assigned zero homework.

For the first little while, I worked on some revisions to my fifth year syllabus in light of what I'd learned of their education up until this point. There were a couple of topics they'd already covered that I felt that needed to be re-covered before they sat their O.W.L.s, and a couple of topics I'd thought they'd already covered that they hadn't, which I would have to fit into my plans.

For the rest of my office time, I took the time to reorganize the supply cupboard. After two classes of rifling through the supplies, it was looking pretty rough, and I would be repeating the same class twice more with the fourth and seventh years tomorrow, and then a third time on Wednesday with the sixth years.

Dinner wasn't as painful as I'd thought it would be. The other teachers were a lot less rushed than at lunch. I had a good talk with Skye, and even chatted with Martha from the hospital wing for a little while. I learned that she didn't have any mealtime supervisory shifts because of her responsibilities in the hospital wing. If a student were gravely ill, she would have to stay there with them, and therefore her schedule couldn't have any mandatory shifts anywhere. She didn't have to do hall patrol or night patrol either. Then again, she had to be available to sick students at all hours of the day and night, which she explained could be gruelling in the winter when the magical flu started going around.

Alex popped by my end of the table for a bit towards the end of dinner and I brought out some really bad flirting that I was definitely going to regret later on. Hall patrol after dinner wasn't particularly exciting. I slowly wandered up one floor at a time, using the opportunity to explore the castle layout even more and get familiarized with the various routes to various places. Though I'd been here a full month now, there were still lots of corridors and staircases that I was unfamiliar with.

By the time my hall patrol shift was over at nine, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was lay down on my couch with a good book and read for an hour or so before bed. I'd received offers to join Skye and Cameron in the teacher's lounge and I'd seriously considered it. I'd bailed on them last night and didn't really want to bail two nights in a row. But in the end, I decided I was too exhausted for human interaction and retired to my own quarters to relax.

As I pulled on my pyjamas and stretched out on the couch, I reflected on the day and decided that I was going to call it a success. I'd taught two classes about office supplies, nobody had walked out when I'd given them the option, and so far there'd been no big issues any of my students. If the rest of the week played out in a similar way that today had, I'd feel pretty good about the remainder of the year.


	16. Donnor Dalman

Chapter 16: Donnor Dalman

Tuesdays, it turned out, would be my sleep-in day. I didn't have to supervise breakfast, didn't have any morning classes, and didn't have to supervise lunch either. My first class wasn't until fifth period, at which point I had two classes back to back, first the seventh years and then the fourth years.

Lunch was almost over by the time I crawled my way out of bed and into the shower to get ready. It was luxurious. I took my time, dressed, chose a selection of pastries from my spread of food as my breakfast/lunch, and took my time making my way to my classroom.

I was feeling pretty good about the day. By now, word would have completely spread, both about my muggle nature and my wand ban policy in class. Presumably, anyone who might have a problem with either of those things wouldn't show up to class today. Which meant that if all went well, I might even manage to have a smoother day today than I'd had yesterday.

I got to my classroom with ten minutes to spare, during which time I sat in my office and went over my notes. There would be fourteen students in my seventh-year class – my smallest class yet (though the sixth-year class would be even smaller). Most of the class would be from Hufflepuffs, with only one student from Slytherin. I felt confident.

When it was time, I walked out into the classroom and greeted everybody with a bright smile.

"Alright everybody, so as you all know, my name is Professor Harris," I began. "By now you'll all have heard that I'm a muggle, so if it's alright, we'll just skip over that conversation and start with roll call."

I paused for a moment, and when nobody protested, I began to read the names off the list.

"Samantha Ackerly?" I called out.

Samantha raised her hand and I committed her face to memory.

"Kimberly Baddock?" I called next.

The one Slytherin in the class waved at me from the far back corner and I committed her face to memory as well.

"Paul Branstone?"

I went on, matching faces to names, right up until the last student on the list, Max Wilson. Once I'd finished, I placed the piece of parchment on my desk and picked up the basket.

"Now I'm assuming you've already heard about my classroom policies," I said. Judging by the expressions on the students' faces, they had. "And I'll give you all the choice I've given all my other students. You can adhere to the wand ban, put your wand in the basket, and take this class. Or you can feel free to walk out that door and choose another elective."

There was a moment of general muttering where the students discussed amongst themselves whether they were going to give in or not, and I gave them a minute to talk it out.

Maisie Brown, from Hufflepuff, was the first to stand up, walk up to the front, and drop her wand into the basket. The rest of the Hufflepuffs followed suit, then the Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws, and even Kimberly Baddock from Slytherin.

I was just about to move on to the lesson when I noticed one student still twirling his wand between his fingers. He stared at me with a smirk on his face and my heart sunk, knowing before it happened that this was going to turn into a confrontation. But I had to call him out.

"Donnor Dalman?" I asked, naming the Ravenclaw student who was so clearly flaunting the fact that he hadn't relinquished his wand.

"Yes, Professor Harris?" he asked, his voice high and innocent. I ignored this obvious ploy.

"I gave you two choices. I'd like you to choose one."

Donnor Dalman considered me for a moment and then leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. His face was set. "I choose neither," he declared.

I nodded, having expected as much. "I understand that it's not an easy decision to make," I said. "But I am going to insist that you choose. I'm not forcing you to pick one or the other. I'm only saying you have to pick one."

"And I'm saying I'm not choosing," the Ravenclaw boy insisted. "I intend to take this class while retaining my wand on my person."

I sighed. "I'm afraid that's not an option, Donnor," I informed him.

"I'd prefer Mr. Dalman, if you don't mind," the boy declared.

I had to close my eyes for a moment to resist the urge to roll them.

"Alright Mr. Dalman. I'm going to have to insist that you put your wand in this basket in the next ten seconds, or else leave this classroom until you're ready to do so. I don't care if you drop the class or keep it. But you won't be welcome in this classroom until you're ready to play by the same rules as everyone else."

"No," I replied, digging in his heels. "I need this class on my transcript if I want to work as an obliviator. I can't drop it, and if I keep it and never come to class, you'll flunk me. And I'm not giving up my wand."

I had no idea what an obliviator was, but I gathered it involved some kind of work with or near muggles. I could see the boy's dilemma, but I wasn't about to make allowances, especially for insubordinate seventeen-year-olds.

"You have five seconds," I declared, hoping desperately that it would work, and yet knowing it wouldn't. "Five… Four… Three…" He fidgeted, and for a second I thought he was going to move. But then he settled and I had to keep on counting. "Two… Last chance Mr. Dalman. No? Alright then, one."

I came to the end of my count, and Donnor Dalman looked up at me defiantly, as if daring me to make the next move. The rest of the class looked on, and I knew I had to do something big if I was going to assert my power as a teacher. While I would have preferred be the nice friendly teacher, I wasn't going to be the teacher that got walked all over. And I wasn't going to let anybody think that just because I'm a muggle, I somehow have less authority than the other teachers.

"In my office, Mr. Dalman," I ordered, gesturing to the door at the side of the room.

A chorus of 'oohs' sounded from around the room, and with an arrogant swagger, Donnor Dalman stood and made his way to my office, plopping himself in the chair across from my desk and turning to wave at me obnoxiously.

I took a deep breath and turned back to the rest of the class.

"Alright, so my plan for today was to do a quick review of office supplies and make sure that you're all familiar with the supplies you'll be using to do your assignments for the remainder of the year," I announced. "Everything's in that cupboard at the back of the room," I pointed to the cupboard in question. "So for the next ten or fifteen minutes, I'll ask you all to head back there and acquaint yourselves with the supplies. When I get back, we'll go over any questions you might have and talk about any of the supplies you're unfamiliar with, and then we'll talk about how your assignments are going to be submitted from now on. Alright?"

There was a general nod of consensus, and I left the seventh years to their own devices while I walked over to my office, shutting the door between us and the other students.

"Alright Mr. Dalman, you've already made it clear why you won't drop this class. Let's talk about why you refuse to submit to the classroom wand ban," I said, taking a seat in my own chair.

Donnor shrugged. "I shouldn't have to," he said. "You wouldn't understand. You're a muggle."

"Try me," I challenged. Just because I wasn't a witch and didn't have a wand of my own didn't mean that I couldn't try to understand what was going on here.

Donnor rolled his eyes. "What's the point?" he insisted. "You won't back down now, will you?"

He had a point. I wasn't going to change the wand ban rule, regardless of his reasons. If I did, I would lose all the respect I'd gained so far. Nobody would take me seriously again. I was treading dangerous water, and Donnor was threatening to sink me.

"If I understood why you were so reluctant to relinquish your wand, maybe we could come up with an alternative. A middle ground," I suggested.

Donnor shook his head. "I don't think so."

I sighed. "Donnor – Mr. Dalman – if you refuse to talk to me, and you refuse to leave your wand with the others, and you refuse to drop my class, then I'm going to have to send you to the Headmaster's office to talk things over with him."

I'd hoped that the threat of the Headmaster would be enough to snap the boy out of whatever attitude this was, but apparently it had the opposite effect.

"I think I will talk to the Headmaster," he agreed. "I'd like to see what he thinks of this whole wand ban thing. I'm sure he won't like it either. Maybe he can get you to see reason."

I decided not to try fighting back on this one. I was never going to get anywhere with Donnor Dalman, so there was no point trying anymore.

"Then I suggest you head over there now," I informed him. I wasn't going to have him disrupting my class anymore. Once everything was resolved, he could either return to class and follow the rules or take something else and find a new career path.

"Whatever," Donnor muttered, getting up and heading for the door. "This whole thing is crap."

"Oh, and Mr. Dalman?" I added, before he opened the door. He turned and gave me a sour expression.

"What?" he demanded.

"I'll see you in detention tonight," I declared.

"Detention?" Donnor cried in outrage. "What for?"

"Insubordination in class," I informed him. "Feel free to argue that with the Headmaster too, but I guarantee he'll support my call."

Donnor grumbled but didn't say anything else. He swung the door open, stepped out into the classroom, and slammed the door closed behind him.

I gave him a full minute to vacate the class before re-entering the classroom myself. I didn't like confrontation or conflict, and I hadn't enjoyed our conversation one bit. But it had to be done, and I was glad that I'd stuck to my guns. Now I just had to wait and see how things went with the Headmaster and hope that he didn't torture me too much in detention later.

"Alright everyone, how's it going?" I asked, resuming my cheerful voice and trying to push away all the negativity of the encounter with Donnor Dalman. "Any questions?"

The rest of the lesson went very smoothly. On the bright side, my altercation with the Ravenclaw boy seemed to have put the fear in the rest of the students. Not that that's necessarily what I was going for, but I supposed I would have to take it for now.

I had my fourth year class immediately following the seventh years, and I had no big problems with them. A little reluctance from some at first to hand over their wands, but that was it.

Just as my second class was coming to an end, an owl flew through the window and dropped a note on my desk. I excused the fourth years, and curiously went over to read it.

It seemed that my presence had been requested in the Headmaster's office. Fantastic.

I'd only been inside Headmaster Slinkhard's office once before. I knew it was on the sixth floor, but I couldn't remember exactly where. I ended up having to ask a few of the portraits for directions, which was a little awkward. Especially when other students witnessed it happening.

When I arrived at the entrance, I announced my presence, and the rotating stairs began to move, allowing me to step on and be lifted up to the office. I knew what this was about and tried to put myself in the right frame of mind, but I couldn't. I honestly had no idea what I was about to walk into, and I was nervous about what Donnor may have said to the Headmaster.

I knocked at the door and they both opened in front of me to reveal both the Headmaster and Donnor Dalman waiting for me.

"Headmaster," I greeted him respectfully inclining my head. "Mr. Dalman."

"Come in Professor Harris," Headmaster Slinkhard invited me. "And let's clear up this whole mess."

I came forward and took a seat next to Donnor, preparing myself for the worst.

"Mr. Dalman informs me that you've insisted he give you his wand?" Headmaster Slinkhard said, the statement sounding much more like a question. He raised an eyebrow at me, as if begging me to clear up the confusion.

"Not permanently," I assured him. "And not specifically to me. I have no intention of taking or using the wands myself. All I'm asking is that he and the other students leave their wands in a basket for the duration of their time in my classroom. As an experiential learning device. Feeling what it's like not to have one at all times, the way that muggles do."

Headmaster Slinkhard nodded and turned to Donnor. "Well there you go, my boy, a perfectly reasonable explanation, just as I told you."

Donnor shook his head. "But that's not right," he insisted. "A wizard should never be required to give up their wand. I have rights. I'm legally an adult."

"You do," the Headmaster agreed. "And I'm sure nobody is forcing you to attend Professor Harris' class. Only insisting that you follow her rules if you choose to take it."

The Headmaster glanced at me and I nodded, glad that he and I were on the same page.

Donner exploded. "But I have to take muggle studies if I want to be an obliviator! It's not fair! Why am I the only one who's being interrogated here?"

"I assure you; nobody is being interrogated," Headmaster Slinkhard informed him. "And the reason you're here and not anybody else is because, I presume, you're the only student who's caused a commotion in class thus far?"

I nodded again so that the Headmaster would know this was true.

"What if I'm not comfortable leaving my wand in a basket where anyone could snatch it out at any time?" Donnor insisted. "What if I'm not comfortable being unarmed, even for an hour a day twice a week?"

"Then you can feel free to take the course at the Ministry over the summer and earn your N.E.W.T. that way," Headmaster Slinkhard suggested. "No one is saying that you don't have options."

"So that's it then?" Donnor demanded. "You're siding with the muggle?"

"I'm siding with _Professor Harris_," Headmaster Slinkhard said, emphasizing my name and title. "If you decide to abide by her rules, then I'll expect that you'll show up to your next class ready to do so. Otherwise, I would be more than happy to work with you in designing a new course load."

Donnor crossed his arms, this time in anger, not defiance. "And my detention tonight?" he demanded. "I suppose you intend to uphold that too?"

Headmaster Slinkhard nodded. "Professor Harris has full authority to issue detentions when she sees fit."

With a huff, Donnor grabbed his bag and stood, pushing his chair back forcefully. "Are we done here?" he demanded.

Headmaster Slinkhard shrugged. "I suppose we are," he agreed.

Donnor nodded, and then stalked out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, I immediately relaxed. The whole situation with Donnor had been so tense, I was just glad for some reprieve. Honestly, I almost hoped that he did drop my class, because I was so fed up with dealing with him.

"Thank you for backing me up, Headmaster," I said gratefully. I'd had mixed feelings about sending Donnor to the Headmaster, but as promised, Slinkhard had supported me.

The Headmaster nodded. "In the future, Professor Harris, I would prefer that you run radical policies such as your wand ban by me before implementing them."

I nodded. "Of course, Headmaster. I'm sorry I didn't mention it before."

Headmaster Slinkhard sighed and waved me away, an obvious dismissal.

I rose and started to head for the door.

"So much paperwork I'll have to do now," I heard him mutter.

I was pretty sure I wasn't meant to hear, so I pretended I hadn't and exited the room. Once the door closed behind me, I felt my heart sink. Headmaster Slinkhard had backed me up, not because he believed in my policy, but because I was a teacher and he had to. But I could tell now that he wished I'd never instituted the wand ban. I felt bad, because I hadn't realized it was going to cause so many problems. But now that we'd gone this far, I couldn't turn back.

I pinched my nose between two fingers and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to re-focus my thoughts. There was no use dwelling on the inconvenience I'd created for Headmaster Slinkhard now. I had other things to worry about. Primarily, what I was going to do with Donnor Dalman this evening in detention.


	17. Detention

Chapter 17: Detention

When I arrived in the Great Hall at the beginning of dinner, I immediately scanned the staff table to see if any of my friends were there. Neither Alex nor Skye were present yet, but Cameron was just taking a seat on his end of the table. I made an immediate beeline for him, dropping myself into Alex's usual chair and turning my body to face him.

"I need your help," I declared.

"What with?" Cameron asked, turning so he was facing me as well.

"I have to run my first detention tonight," I informed him. "And I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Whoa! Detention on the second day. Wouldn't have taken you for the strict professor type," Cameron commented.

"I wasn't trying to be," I said. "But I didn't have a choice. Donnor was being insubordinate and arrogant and purposely created a scene and refused to follow my rules."

"Donnor… do you mean Donnor Dalman?" Cameron asked.

"I take it there aren't too many Donnors here?" I joked. It didn't seem like it would be a common name.

Cameron ignored this.

"This isn't the first time he's gone causing problems. This one time last year, Tessa took fifty points from him in one go. And it was from her own house," Cameron said.

I sighed. "Maybe taking points would have been easier," I muttered. "But it's too late now. I've already told him he has detention. I can't go back on it."

"Try not to stress about it too much," Cameron urged me. "Do you have a plan for what you want him to do?"

The truth was that I didn't. I knew I wanted my detentions to be educational, in that they would mirror the kinds of detentions one might get in a muggle school. But there were still so many options.

"I like the idea of having him bang out chalkboard erasers," I said, musing over the possibilities. "But I don't have the time to collect enough from around the school before seven."

"You could always start the detention by having him summon them all," Cameron suggested.

I shook my head fervently. "No way," I declared. "I refuse to involve magic in any part of my detention." This detention in particular needed to be completely magic-free if I wanted to make any sort of point.

Cameron nodded in acceptance and I continued thinking.

"I guess I could have him write lines," I said after a while. "_I will not be insubordinate in class_ has a certain ring to it."

"Lines are always a miserable time," Cameron agreed. "Everybody hates doing them."

I hemmed and hawed for a moment as I decided whether to commit to the lines or not. On the one hand, it would be nice to come up with something unique that hadn't been done at Hogwarts before to truly showcase muggle culture. On the other hand, I didn't have enough time to be creative, and as long as Donnor was writing lines, I could just sit quietly and prep for my morning classes tomorrow.

"It's settled then," I declared.

"What's settled?"

I turned to find Alex standing behind my – well his – chair, looking down at me amusedly.

"Katie was just trying to decide what to do in her first detention tonight," Cameron said.

"Oof, detention so early in the term?" Alex asked. "You must have had a fun day."

"Don't even get me started," I huffed. The last thing I wanted was to start reliving it all.

"Who's the lucky candidate?" Alex wondered.

"Donnor Dalman," I replied. "Ravenclaw."

Alex nodded. "Never taught him myself," he muttered. "Isn't he the one Tessa took fifty points from at the end of last year?" he asked, looking to Cameron.

Cameron nodded. "That's the one," he agreed.

"Ouch," Alex said. "You've got yourself a handful there Katie. You sure you're ready?"

I nodded. "I'm just going to have him write lines for two hours. It shouldn't be too bad. And after our talk with Headmaster Slinkhard this afternoon, I'm hoping he won't be an issue in the future."

"You took this all the way to Slinkhard?" Alex asked in surprise. "Wow, it must have been bad."

"The real problem is that he doesn't respect my authority," I said. "Until the students get it wrapped around their brains that I'm just as much in charge as the rest of you, I'm going to keep having these problems. That's why this detention is so important. It's not just about Donnor, it's making a statement to the rest of the school too."

"It's a smart move," Alex agreed. "I support it."

I smiled, and then suddenly realized why Alex was still standing.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I just realized! I'm sitting in your seat!" I exclaimed, jumping up.

"Don't worry about it," Alex said, waving for me to sit back down. "I'm in no hurry."

"And I'm supposed to be supervising," I added, frantically looking around the room to make sure people were behaving. "I haven't been paying attention at all."

"Don't worry, Brunwell's watching too," Cameron assured me, pointing to the astronomy professor a few seats away. "And he's usually pretty alert at dinner because he only wakes up around three in the afternoon after classes are over for the day."

"Makes sense," I muttered, sinking back into Alex's chair. I sighed again. "I'm just really not looking forward to sitting in a room with Dalman for two whole hours, just the two of us."

"Do you want one of us there, in case he tries to pull anything?" Alex offered.

"No," I shook my head. "That'll just end up undermining my authority. It'll look like I need backup and can't handle things myself. I need to do this alone."

"Alright," Alex said. "But if anything does happen and you need help, feel free to bring me in."

"Thanks," I said, knowing that I wouldn't. If things got bad enough, I'd just threaten to send Donnor straight back to Slinkhard's office. I suspected that he wouldn't be too keen on visiting the Headmaster twice in one day.

As dinner came to a close, I felt myself growing more and more nervous. I'd been watching Donnor for the past twenty or so minutes, sitting at the Ravenclaw table with his friends, and I knew that they were wrapping up their meal pretty soon. It was five minutes to seven, and I didn't want to be late to my own detention, so I let Mark know that I had to slip out a few minutes early and headed up to my classroom ahead of Donnor to prepare.

When I arrived, I immediately went to the chalkboard and began writing out the sentence I wanted him to copy. I was just finishing up the end of it when a cough startled me and I whirled around. Donnor was standing in the doorway, staring at the blackboard with disdain.

"I suppose you expect me to write lines?" Donnor asked condescendingly. "How creative."

"The classics are classics because they work," I retorted, taking a seat at my desk. "You'll use a pen and loose-leaf paper to complete the assignment. Supplies can be found in the cupboard at the back."

Donnor dropped his bag next to a chair near the back of the room and shuffled over to the supply cupboard, opening it up and retrieving the supplies he would need.

"How many lines?" he asked as he tried to select the correct number of pages of paper.

"We'll see how many you can get done in two hours," I informed him.

Donnor dropped the paper back in the cupboard and crossed his arms in front of him. "How am I supposed to know how many pages to take if I don't know how many lines I'm writing?" he demanded.

"Take a stack, and if you need more or less, you can adjust later," I informed him. I wasn't going to let him rattle me, no matter how easily rattled I could get.

Grabbing a random number of pages, Donnor stalked back to his desk and sat himself down, clicking the pen open and getting ready to write.

I in turn took a seat at my desk and began to look over my lesson plan for my third years first thing in the morning. I was going to teach a lesson about pens vs. pencils and had decided that as a first assignment, I was going to have them all try out different muggle writing implements and write a paragraph about which one was their favorite and why.

The sound of someone clearing their throat forced me to look up, and I found Donnor sitting with his arms crossed again.

"Mr. Dalman, while I haven't set a specific number of lines, I am going to insist on a minimum requirement of twenty pages, back and front, so I would suggest you get started now," I said.

"My pen doesn't work," Donnor replied, as if this were reason enough to quit.

I ground my teeth together and had to take a breath to not explode. "Then choose another one."

Making a big show of things, Donnor stood up and walked back over to the supply cupboard to choose a new pen. He must have picked up a dozen different ones before finally selecting one and returning to his desk.

"I think I might have taken the same one again," he muttered. "It's still not working."

Reaching the end of my patience, I opened my top desk drawer and grabbed a handful of pens out of it. Then I stood, walked over to where Donnor was seated, and slammed the pens all down on his desk.

"There," I declared. "Now you have lots of pens. I'm sure at least one of these will work. Now quit stalling and write me those lines."

My little outburst seemed to shut Donnor up, at least temporarily. We spent the next little while in silence, Donnor writing his lines, me working on my third year lesson plan, and then moving onto the one for my fifth years in the afternoon. I skipped over the plan for the sixth years, because I planned to give them the same first lesson I'd given all my other classes.

About an hour had passed when Donnor spoke again.

"Done," he declared.

I checked my watch before looking up.

"I believe I'm the one who decides when you're done, Mr. Dalman," I said. "And I said this would be a two-hour detention."

"But I've completed my minimum number of lines," Donnor said. "You told me twenty pages, front and back, and that's what I've got here."

"It's called a minimum requirement for a reason," I said. "I never gave you a maximum. Keep going."

"Maybe I'll just sit here instead," Donnor declared.

I sighed. There really wasn't that much fight left in me, and I couldn't imagine sitting and staring at me prep my lessons would be any more stimulating than writing lines. In fact, it might be even less so.

"Fine with me," I decided. "But you're not moving from that chair until nine o'clock."

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" Donnor asked.

I shook my head. "You should have gone before detention," I informed him. "You'll have to hold it. Now either sit there and be quiet or write lines. It's your choice, but either way, I have work to do."

To my surprise, Donnor did shut up. He sat back, crossed his arms, and sat completely still. I tried my best to ignore him, but it was difficult. I didn't get nearly as much done with my fifth year lesson plan as I'd meant to. I'd have to look it over again tomorrow sometime when I had a free period, but there wasn't much left to do, just come up with a homework assignment for them.

By the end of the two hours, I was exhausted. I excused Donnor, taking his lines and stapling them together. I then went into my office and filed them in a brand new folder that I made entitled 'Donnor Dalman'.

I thought about turning in for the night. I was exhausted, and I had an early start the next morning. I would be supervising my first breakfast, which meant I needed to be dressed, showered, and in the Great Hall by 6AM. But as I thought about it, I realized I didn't want to just go back to my quarters alone. The last two hours had been so stressful, I wanted to decompress with friends. So instead, I shut my classroom door and made my way to the teacher's lounge to see if anyone was there.

I found Skye, Cameron, and Alex all sitting around a table playing a game of exploding snap.

"Hey guys," I greeted them, walking in and taking a seat at the unoccupied side of the table. "Mind if I join?"

"Not at all!" Skye exclaimed happily, dealing me in. "We were wondering if you'd ever come by."

"I've just been adjusting to the new routine," I said by way of explanation. "Suddenly there's just so much going on. It's been so crazy."

"First few days are always the toughest," Cameron agreed. "But you'll get used to it quickly enough."

"How did detention go?" Alex wondered.

I shrugged. "As well as could be expected I suppose," I replied. "He fought me on every turn, but I got him to sit with me for two hours, and that couldn't have been fun for him, so I feel like I won. Well, maybe not won exactly, because my two hours were torture too, but at least I made my point."

"That's good," Skye said. "Establish yourself from the start, and you'll have less problems in the future."

"That was my thought exactly," I agreed. "But I have to say, I'm really hoping he ends up dropping the class and I don't have to deal with him anymore."

"I wouldn't count on it," Skye said. "I've dealt with him a bit, and he doesn't strike me as the kind to give up. More likely he'll stay and keep on messing with you."

"Gee, thanks," I groaned.

"Sorry, just speaking the truth," Skye said apologetically.

"It's fine," I replied. "I'm a teacher, it's my job to deal with this sort of thing."

"Well enough about work," Cameron declared, starting the round. "Let's just play the game."

We played for close to an hour, and then we went our separate ways. Cameron had night patrol, Skye and I both had an early morning supervising breakfast in the Great Hall, and Alex had some work to do before he turned in.

As I headed back to my quarters, I couldn't help but think how nice it was to have friends I could unwind with after a hard day, and how different this was from working any other kind of job, where you wrap up your day by going home to an empty apartment. While this job was so much more work and stress in a lot of different ways, I was happy I was here and looking forward to what was to come.


	18. Night Patrol

Chapter 18: Night Patrol

All my classes on Wednesday went mercifully smoothly, and by the end of the day, I'd built my confidence back up. Donnor Dalman had made me question myself, but I was glad to see that nobody else was taking his lead.

I had my first night patrol that night with Alex. We made plans to meet up in the teacher's lounge beforehand, and then together, we headed up to Mr. Clarke's office on the fifth floor, since Mr. Clarke was in charge of night patrols.

"New girl," Mr. Clarke greeted me when we knocked on the door to his office.

"It's Katie, actually," I informed him. We hadn't properly met yet, so I figured maybe he didn't know my name.

"That's right," he nodded. "New girl."

I exchanged a glance with Alex and he nodded, so I figured I should just go along with it.

"Alright, now night patrol is very simple," Mr. Clarke told me. "I will give you a route to walk – it will change with each patrol, so that the students are never able to predict our movements. You will walk it. The patrol will last three hours, at which point you will go to bed and I will continue to monitor the halls alone until curfew lifts at 6AM."

"Sounds easy enough – ," I began.

"I wasn't finished," Mr. Clarke interrupted.

I clamped my mouth shut.

"Now, where was I?" Mr. Clarke muttered. "Oh yes. Typically, night patrols will be done individually so as that the three of us may cover more ground at once. However, as this is your first night patrol, you and Alex will be patrolling together so that he can show you the ropes."

"Wouldn't it make more sense for me to patrol with you?" I wondered. Not that I objected in any way to patrolling with Alex, but as the man in charge of night patrols, wouldn't it make more sense for him to teach me?

"I don't have time to babysit you," Mr. Clarke snapped. "Besides, my patrol is very different from your patrol. I'm in charge of making sure doors are locked and windows are secure while you're in charge of looking for students who might be out of bed by looking behind tapestries and inside suits of armor."

"You think a student would hide _inside_ a suit of armor?" I asked in surprise.

"It's happened before," Mr. Clarke informed me. "Here's your route for tonight," he declared, shoving a piece of parchment into Alex' hands.

"Come on," Alex said, gently grabbing my arm and steering me out of Mr. Clarke's office. "Let's get started."

I waited until we were out of earshot before saying anything. As soon as we'd descended to the fourth floor, I opened my mouth.

"What was that?" I asked in disbelief.

"That's just how Clarke is," Alex assured me. "Don't take it personally, he treats everyone like that."

"He didn't treat you like crap," I pointed out. "Just me."

"Trust me, I got the same thing last year. I think the nights are taking a toll on him. His schedule is completely skewed, he doesn't socialize much because he sleeps all day and is up all night, the only time he interacts with students is when they're in trouble. It's not his fault he's so bad-tempered. He's a product of his environment."

"Well then why doesn't he go get a regular job that happens during the daytime?" I wondered.

Alex shrugged. "Don't ask me, I've never really interacted with the man besides for my night patrols. I can only assume he prefers working overnight. Some people do."

I nodded. Whatever his reason was, it wasn't really any of my concern.

"Come on, I'll show you what night patrol is all about," Alex said with a smirk.

Forgetting about Mr. Clarke altogether, I hurried after Alex, ready to learn.

We spent the next three hours wandering all over the school in search of rule-breakers. Thankfully we didn't find any – after everything that had happened with Donnor Dalman, I wasn't in the mood to do any more disciplining quite yet – but we had lots of fun poking our heads into every nook and cranny of the school that we could find in search of them. Alex had me looking behind stone pillars, checking inside every toilet stall in every bathroom, pulling back tapestries that revealed alcoves I didn't even know were there, and yes, checking inside each and every suit of armor we came across.

By the end of the patrol, I was tired, but I'd also had a lot of fun. We dropped off our report on Mr. Clarke's desk and then I turned to Alex, wondering – and kind of hoping – that there was something more we had to do before turning in. Unfortunately, there wasn't.

"So… yeah," Alex said with a shrug. "That's it. We can turn in for the night."

"Cool," I muttered, not moving. I'd had a lot of fun patrolling with Alex and wasn't ready for it to end. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any reason why it shouldn't.

"You got an early morning tomorrow?" Alex wondered.

I shook my head. "Actually, Thursdays are my day off, remember?" I replied. "No classes, no patrols, no shifts in the Great Hall, nothing."

"Oh right," Alex nodded. "Well, any plans?"

I shook my head. "I guess I'll prep my Friday classes," I said. "Sleep in. Maybe stop by the lounge at some point."

"Well I don't start until after lunch," Alex volunteered. "So, if you aren't in too much of a hurry to get to sleep… maybe you'd like to hang out a bit longer?"

I smiled. "What did you have in mind?" I wondered.

"I've got hot chocolate," Alex offered. I could sense a tentative hopefulness in his expression that had me melting just a little.

"I love hot chocolate," I replied.

"Come on," Alex said, reaching for my hand and leading me towards the stairs and up.

We arrived at Alex' quarters on the sixth floor and I hesitated. Middle of the night, guy who obviously liked me, his personal quarters… anyone in my position would see the red flag. But Alex smiled at me and I felt myself melting some more.

"Just hot chocolate, I swear," he said.

That was all I needed. I'd known Alex a while now, and I had a good feeling about him. He led the way inside and I took in the room.

It was designed almost exactly like my quarters but flipped. There was the couch, the fireplace, the table laden with snacks, a couple of comfortable looking chairs…

I settled myself onto one of the chairs while Alex set to work making the hot chocolate. It was quite a different process than I was used to. When I make hot chocolate at home, I boil water and mix it with the hot chocolate powder, adding a bit of milk or cream at the end if I feel like it. Instead of hot chocolate powder, Alex produced two small marble-sized pieces of chocolate, placed them in a couple of mugs, and then pointed his wand at them and cast some kind of spell.

In seconds, I could smell the chocolate-y aroma wafting from the mugs. It was heavenly. Alex passed me my mug, and I took a whiff and could have died happy right then and there.

"It smells really good," I told him.

"It should," Alex replied. "It's magical hot chocolate. Way better than the powdered stuff muggles use."

"Hey! I use that stuff!" I protested.

"That's fine," Alex said. "You're a muggle, you'd have to. But after tasting this, you'll never be able to go back."

Taking him up on the challenge, I took a sip of the hot chocolate. To my delight, the heat of the beverage didn't at all interfere with the taste, even though it was still piping hot. I took a second sip and I felt my whole mouth tingling. It was absolutely delicious.

"So," I said after a few moments of sipping the hot chocolate in silence. "Tell me about yourself. What did you do before you started working here?"

Alex swallowed and hesitated a moment before answering. "Well, I was going to be a curse-breaker."

"Going to be?" I prodded, deciding that the conversation of what is a curse breaker could wait.

"Yeah," Alex said with a sad shrug. "I did all the training courses and even travelled all the way to South America – that's where I was going to be stationed."

"South America, wow," I said, impressed. I'd always wanted to travel to South America. I'd always wanted to travel to a lot of places really but hadn't been much of anywhere.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "You know Chavin de Huantar? Well there's a lot more going on down there than muggles think."

"Really?" I nodded, intrigued.

"Absolutely," Alex nodded. "Anyway, I was supposed to spend three years down there cracking codes and making discoveries, but…"

"But what?" I prodded when he trailed off.

Alex sucked in a breath. "But I couldn't rough it," he admitted. "We were living in tents out in the middle of nowhere. It was just the five of us, and between making sure we were fed and watered and physically taken care of, and also making sure that we kept out of sight of all those muggle tourists, there wasn't really much time left for the fun stuff. I thought I was going to be uncovering rare magical artifacts and scrolls every day, but in reality… well you're lucky if you find something in a year."

"So you came back?" I inquired.

Alex nodded. "I came back. And I heard that my old Ancient Runes Professor had just retired, so I sought out a meeting with Headmaster Slinkhard and he gave me the job here."

"Do you regret it?" I wondered. Teaching ancient runes was a far cry from curse breaking in Peru.

"Sometimes," Alex answered honestly. "I love teaching, and I really do enjoy being here, but I guess a part of me will always wonder what could have been if I'd stayed. Maybe I'd have ended up making the greatest wizarding discovery of the century."

"Maybe," I allowed. "But then again, maybe you'll get to shape the mind of the person who'll go on to make the greatest wizarding discovery of the century. It's not as glamorous, I'll give you that, but it's just as valuable."

Alex smiled. "You're right," he said. "Teaching is an extremely important position. In some respects, more important than any other profession, because we teach and prepare the people that will go on to fill all the other positions later on. Is that why you decided to teach?"

I felt myself turn red and shook my head as I took another sip of hot chocolate. In addition to tasting better than anything I'd ever had before, it seemed that no matter how much I drank, my mug never got empty. I'd have to watch myself or I'd be back and forth to the bathroom all night.

"No, actually, I had no idea I'd even applied to a teaching position until was contacted about an interview," I admitted.

"You didn't know what you'd applied for?" Alex frowned.

I shook my head. "I got a degree in anthropology. Except that I didn't actually want to go on and do fieldwork and get a master's like the rest of the anthropology majors." I could see that Alex didn't quite grasp what I was saying, so I decided to clarify. "It would be like if someone decided to solely focus on taking muggle studies, but then after graduation, didn't actually want to work with muggles."

"But why would anyone do that?" Alex frowned.

"The classes were interesting," I defended myself. "I really enjoyed learning about all the different cultures all over the world and everything. But I guess I just wasn't interested in taking that learning outside of the classroom. I didn't want to travel to some remote part of Africa to integrate myself into some little-known society to study them."

"So instead you came to a magical castle, where you're basically completely cut off from the outside world, and have integrated yourself into a culture you can never fully participate in?" Alex inquired, an amused expression on his face.

"Okay, so admittedly if you look at things that way, I'm doing exactly what I didn't want to do," I agreed. "But I didn't really realize what I was doing at the time. I needed a job fast; this was the only place that had shown interest in me, and I figured going to a boarding school would be like having an adventure without really having one. I didn't know about the magic until after I'd arrived."

"Do you wish you'd said no, now that you know what the job really entails?" Alex wondered.

I considered his question. On the one hand, I'd be home with my family and friends. I'd have access to my phone, my computer, my television. I wouldn't have to wonder what was happening on Grey's Anatomy, because I'd be able to watch it weekly. I wouldn't have all the stress that I had now. I wouldn't have to deal with people like Donnor Dalman for one. I wouldn't have to worry about everyone judging me for being different. I wouldn't be responsible for a bunch of teenage witches and wizards.

But on the other hand, I'd have been admitting to my parents that I'd wasted four years of my life. I'd be stuck living with them, probably working at the supermarket or worse. I'd be pretty much alone, while all my friends were going off and starting their lives and having their own adventures. And I wouldn't have met the people here who had so quickly become so important in my life. Skye and Cam and… and Alex. I couldn't even imagine having not come here and never met any of them.

"No, I really don't," I replied. "I'm glad I came here, even if it ends up only being for one year."

"Good," Alex smiled over his mug of hot chocolate. "Because I'm really glad you came too."


	19. Tessa Flitwick

Chapter 19: Tessa Flitwick

I awoke the next day sometime in the afternoon. Admittedly, I'd been exhausted. Everything with Donnor Dalman and the detention had been so draining, and then Alex and I had been up pretty late talking.

Groggily, I stumbled into the shower to rinse off the last remnants of sleep. Though I loved sleeping in, I always felt so much more reluctant to wake up when I did. It was almost as if the sleep was clinging to my skin like dirt.

By the time I got out of the shower, I felt refreshed. I thought about heading to my office to do some work, but I really didn't have all that much to do, and it was such a nice day and I really didn't feel like staying cooped up in the castle all day. So instead, I headed downstairs and made my way outside to take a walk.

As I was passing by the Quidditch pitch, I noticed movement and decided to head over and see if Skye was up for some company. She had a little table set up on the side of the pitch near the broom shed and appeared to be polishing all the school brooms.

"Hey Skye," I greeted her. "What's going on?"

"Just making sure the school brooms are in the best condition possible," Skye replied. "There were a few issues during Tuesday's free fly, and I want to make sure today's goes smoothly. I'm almost done. I clipped all the stray twigs this morning, and now I'm just polishing them all up."

"And that'll make them easier to fly?" I inquired.

"Theoretically," Skye nodded. "I mean, it's mostly about the skill of the flier. But the students who have to borrow school brooms because they don't have any of their own tend not to be the best fliers anyway. I just want to avoid any unnecessary accidents."

I nodded and took a seat on a nearby bench, stretching out along it as I let the sun beat down on me.

"How often do you need to do that?" I wondered. No matter how seemingly insignificant, every new thing I learned about magic was fascinating to me. Though one could argue I was just making small talk, I was genuinely interested in what I was asking.

Skye shrugged. "More often than I do it, really," she admitted. "Probably should be doing it a few times a year. Really it depends on how often the broom is ridden, which is hard to track with the school brooms. It's not like the students have to sign them out like library books."

"Aren't you worried someone might steal a broom if you're not monitoring who's taking them?" I wondered.

"Not really," Skye replied. "These brooms aren't even close to being top of the line. They're old models, some of them don't even fly right anymore, and it's not like we're short on them anyway. We have old brooms donated by former students all the time."

"Hmm," I hummed. I didn't particularly care either way. If Skye didn't care about her brooms getting stolen, it wasn't any of my business. I had my own stuff to worry about.

"So, I guess you had your first night patrol last night?" Skye asked. "With Alex?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "It went good, I guess. Not as stressful as I thought it would be."

"I heard it went better than good," Skye said, her tone suggesting that there was more that she wasn't saying.

"What are you talking about?" I frowned. "It was fine. We patrolled, Alex showed me the ropes, and then it was over."

"That's not what I heard," Skye said in a sing-song-y voice.

"What exactly did you hear?" I asked, swinging my legs around and pushing myself into a sitting position to face my friend.

"Well…" Skye said, pausing as if to be dramatic. "I heard from Cam, who heard from Mark Brunwell – you know, the astronomy teacher – that he saw you leaving Alex's quarters late last night. And I mean _really_ late."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Yeah, okay. Neither of us had to be up early, so after patrol we went back to his quarters and talked for a while," I admitted.

"Are you sure that's all you did?" Skye asked, waggling her eyebrows.

"What exactly are you implying?" I demanded, wishing that Skye would stop trying to be so mysterious.

"Look, it's no secret that the two of you are interested in each other," Skye said. "You've been flirting back and forth for weeks. So, I guess I'm just wondering, did anything… _happen_… last night?"

I suddenly got what Skye was implying and felt my face turn red.

"God, no, nothing happened last night," I assured her. "We just talked."

Skye gave me a look that said she didn't believe me.

"Really!" I insisted. "He made me some hot chocolate and we sat around in his living room."

Skye regarded me a moment longer and then let out a loud sigh. "Well if that's true… then how much longer are you going to wait?" she demanded.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You're obviously attracted to him. He's made it pretty clear that he's attracted to you. When are you going to do something about it?" Skye cried.

"I don't know," I muttered awkwardly. I'd been enjoying the little game Alex and I had been playing these past weeks a lot. I liked the little smiles, the winks, and the comments. The occasional brushes of fingers when we reached for the same thing or the way that my heart would sometimes jump a little when I saw him walk into a room. And while I wanted to see where things might go, I was afraid to take that step, in fear that I'd only end up losing what we had right now.

"Katie," Skye said gently, taking a seat next to me on the bench. "Look, I'm not trying to rush you into anything. You've had a really crazy month, and I'm sure you're still adjusting in a lot of ways. All I'm saying is that I think you and Alex would be really cute together. And I think you should go for it."

I smiled. "Alright Skye," I said. "I appreciate your support."

"Anytime," Skye grinned. "Now get off my pitch. Free fly's about to start."

I looked over to see that a group of students were headed down to the pitch and realized that it was even later than I'd thought. And while I didn't have all that much work to do, I still had some, and I was quickly running out of time. So, I said goodbye to Skye and headed back up to the castle and to my office on the third floor to prep for my last classes of the week. I had the sixth years tomorrow morning, and then the fourth and seventh years in the afternoon.

I started with my sixth-year lesson plan. For our first topic of the year, we would be talking about typical household muggle medicines like Tylenol and Advil. I decided for their first assignment, I would set an essay comparing these everyday muggle medicines to their magical counterparts. I had read up on various forms of magical medicinal practices and felt I had a strong enough grasp on them to properly grade these essays.

Just as I was wrapping up my sixth-year stuff and thinking about getting started on my seventh-year lesson, a knock at my door caused me to pause.

The door opened before I could invite the knocker in, and suddenly Tessa Flitwick was barging into my office in a frenzy.

"What makes you think you have any right to discipline _my _students?" she demanded, slamming her fist on the edge of my desk.

I jumped a little in surprise, both at the intensity of her entrance and demeanour and the fist slamming.

"I'm sorry, but what's going on?" I asked, timidly.

"I was just speaking with Donnor Dalman. You know he's in Ravenclaw, right?" she demanded.

I nodded. "I'm aware of his house," I confirmed.

"Oh, well good," Tessa said condescendingly. "And you're also aware that I'm the Head of Ravenclaw, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, I think everyone knows that," I replied.

"Well then why in _Merlin's name_ would you punish him without consulting with me first?" Tessa demanded. "He says you made him sit detention."

"I did," I said, standing up so that Tessa and I were on the same level. "He was insubordinate in class. He talked back to me and refused to follow my classroom rules. So, I gave him detention."

"You should have left his punishment up to me," Tessa insisted. "_I'm_ his Head of House, not you."

"No," I said. "But I _am_ his teacher and have every right to dole out punishment for his misbehaving while in my classroom."

I wasn't going to let Tessa bully me. I knew my rights, and as a teacher, I had every right to punish Donnor Dalman as I saw fit. It was none of Tessa's business what went on in my class.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Tessa demanded. "Do you even know who Donnor Dalman is?"

"He's a student who needed to learn that if he's going to take my class, he's going to have to play by my rules," I insisted. "I won't have the students walking all over me because I'm a muggle. I'm still their teacher and have just as much authority as any other teacher here. Tell me, if it had been Hannah, or Mark, or Andromeda that had given Donnor detention, would you be standing in their office right now yelling at them?"

"That's not the point," Tessa insisted.

"I think it is the point," I retorted. "You think because I'm a muggle that I don't have the same authority that you have. I've seen the way you look at me in the staff room, or at the staff table in the Great Hall. You don't think I belong here. Trust me, it's not lost on me that I've been here for a month and you still haven't tried to have a real conversation with me. And that's fine, I don't really care. But I'm as much a teacher as anyone else here, and I won't have you treat me like anything less."

Tessa opened her mouth and then closed it again, and I silently rejoiced for having rendered her temporarily speechless.

"Look," Tessa finally spoke. "It's not that I don't like you. I mean, I don't, but that's not the issue. My issue is that you've been in this world for a month, and you're acting like you already know everything. And you don't. There's a lot you don't know, and there's a lot that's going on outside the walls of this castle in the greater wizarding world that you couldn't even wrap your brain around if I tried to explain it. So, I just think it would be best if you minded your own business, taught your little class, and left the disciplining to the adults. Okay?"

"I don't think so," I said, my own rage level rising fast. Just because I was new to this world didn't mean I was an idiot. I'd learned a lot over the past month, and I was willing to go on learning everything I needed to. And to act like somehow punishing Donnor Dalman had anything to do with wizarding politics or whatever… Donnor's detention had been solely based on his actions in my classroom and had nothing to do with Tessa or anybody else. "Look, if you have a problem with me, you can take it up with Headmaster Slinkhard. Until then, I'm going to have to ask you to get out of my office."

There was no point continuing the argument with Tessa, because it was clear we weren't going to come to any kind of understanding today. So, I figured I would just end things before they got out of hand.

"I think I will be speaking with the Headmaster," Tessa declared. "Silas and I go way back. I'm sure he'll see my side of things. It was nice knowing you, Katie."

I rolled my eyes. Her use of the Headmaster's first name was such a clear attempt to unsettle me. She wanted me to think she and he were friends, and that because of that he'd side with her over me. But I knew that Headmaster Slinkhard would be objective in this matter, and that he would back me here just as he backed me with Donnor. Or at least, I hoped so.

I tried to go back to my lesson plans but found that I was much too distracted to focus. I considered going by the Great Hall for a bite to eat, as it was dinnertime, but decided against it. I didn't want to see Tessa right now, and she might be there. I thought about going by the staff room, but again, I didn't want to go anywhere I might run into Tessa.

Finally, I decided to go down to the village. As a teacher, I was allowed to come and go between the castle and the village as I pleased, provided I wasn't scheduled to be supervising anything, which I wasn't. And I needed to get out of the castle.


	20. Surprises in Hogsmeade

Chapter 20: Surprises in Hogsmeade

The walk down to the village was calming. By the time I arrived in Hogsmeade, all my anger towards Tessa had dissipated. Sure, I was still bothered by how she'd come storming into my office, but I was no longer actively seething.

Remembering the shop from the last time I'd visited the village; I made my way straight to Honeydukes Sweet Shop. My body was desperately craving chocolate, and I hadn't been able to get the chocolate frog Alex had bought for me that one time out of my mind.

I found the shop easily enough, but navigating it was more complicated. Though I'd learned quite a bit about wizarding culture recently, types of sweets hadn't been on the list. Eventually, I had to ask the shopkeeper to point me towards their chocolate frog display, which I was embarrassed to find I'd already passed by twice without noticing it.

"Never fear," the kindly shopkeeper smiled as I selected a chocolate frog from the front of the shelf. "Better witches than you have to ask for help sometimes too."

I smiled but didn't correct him.

When we got up to the cash register, I realized there was one important thing I'd neglected to think about. All my money was still in muggle currency.

"That'll be ten sickles," the shopkeeper informed me.

Biting my lip, I produced a handful of muggle money and held it out to him. "Any chance you'd accept this?"

The shopkeeper looked from my hand to my face in surprise. "I see," he said evenly, his voice not betraying his shock. "I'm sorry my dear, but unfortunately I cannot accept anything other than knuts, sickles, or galleons."

Disappointed, I retracted my hand and stuffed the money back into my pocket. I really needed to talk to Headmaster Slinkhard about getting my paycheck in wizarding currency.

"However, there is an exchange counter just down the road," the shopkeeper added.

"There is?" I asked in surprise. It was a wonder nobody had mentioned it to me until now.

The shopkeeper nodded. "Last building before the bend in the lane," he informed me, pointing in the correct direction. "Same building that houses the post office. But be sure to hurry. They close soon."

I thanked the shopkeeper and told him I would be right back with those sickles. Stepping out onto the street, I oriented myself in the direction he'd told me and began to walk over, hoping that I made it in time.

As I was passing by the window of the Three Broomsticks – which I remembered from when Hannah and I had visited the village and had lunch – I caught sight of someone familiar and did a double take. Sitting alone at a table near the back was Cameron.

Curiously, I headed inside and approached Cameron's table.

"Hey," I greeted him. "Fancy running into you here."

"Katie?" Cameron said, surprised. "What are you doing in Hogsmeade?"

I shrugged. "Well I don't have any patrols, so I figured I'd come down for a change of scenery."

"Good idea," Cameron nodded. He was looking a little nervous and I became slightly uncomfortable. Did he not want to be seen in the village with me? Was it that weird being in the company of a muggle? He hadn't seemed to care the last time we'd been in the village, but there had been more of us then, and Alex and I had gone off on our own for a bit.

"What about you?" I asked, trying to maintain the little bit of awkward conversation we were managing.

"Oh, you know," Cameron muttered, his eyes flitting back and forth between me and the door. "Same thing. Just wanted a change of pace, different food…"

His eyes widened and frowning, I turned around to see what he was looking at and saw Skye approaching the restaurant through the window.

"Hey look!" I exclaimed. "It's – "

I trailed off as realization dawned on me. Running into Cam here in Hogsmeade was a coincidence, but running into _both_ he and Skye? That was more than a coincidence. And the way that Cameron was looking panicked and uncomfortable? He was meeting Skye here, and for whatever reason, they didn't want anyone to know.

"You know what?" I said suddenly, not wanting to intrude. "I actually have to go to the bathroom, so I'll catch you later, yeah?"

Relief flooding over him, Cam nodded quickly. "Yeah, for sure, I'll see you later, up at the castle."

Hurrying towards the back of the restaurant just as Skye entered, I found the bathrooms and also a back door. Quickly, I slipped through it, finding myself in a small alley right next to the restaurant.

As I hurried back out onto the street, careful to keep away from the window of the Three Broomsticks so that Skye wouldn't see me, I wondered why they were meeting here in secret. It was possible, I supposed, that they were having some sort of professional meeting and just didn't feel like conducting it in the castle. But judging from the vibe I'd gotten off Cam and the secrecy with which he and Skye were conducting themselves, I got the feeling that this was more of a social meeting.

Were Skye and Cam dating? Skye hadn't mentioned anything to me, but if they were keeping it a secret, then she wouldn't have. Plus, though I felt like Skye and I were close, we'd really only known each other a month – certainly not long enough for her to be confiding her biggest secrets in me yet.

I continued to puzzle over this as I made my way to the post office, only to discover that while taking my detour into the Three Broomsticks, it had closed, and thus I couldn't exchange any of my money.

I tried to decide what to do next. Without any wizarding currency, there wasn't much I could do here in Hogsmeade. And with Cam and Skye having their secret rendezvous, I decided that it would be best to give them their privacy. So, I began to head back up to Hogwarts, my stomach rumbling as I began the long trek.

By the time I returned to the castle, whatever anger I'd been feeling had all but dissipated. My hunger was now my top priority, so I entered the Great Hall and made my way up to the staff table, eager for some dinner.

"Hey," Alex waved me over to the empty seat next to him. "You're awfully late for dinner."

"I was down in the village," I admitted. "I was going to have dinner there, but I needed to exchange my money for your coins and the post office closed before I got there." I left out the part about Cam and Skye. If they wanted to tell Alex about their date, that was their business. I wasn't about to start spreading gossip.

"You should have told me you were going," Alex insisted. "I could have lent you some money."

I shook my head. "It's fine, the walk was good, and it was nice to get out of the castle, even if it didn't end up the way I'd meant it to."

"Well next time then," Alex declared.

"Next time I'll be smart enough to go down earlier in the day so that I actually can get my money exchanged," I retorted.

Alex laughed. "Or that," he agreed with a smirk.

The next morning, I awoke to the sun streaming in through my window. For a moment, I just basked in it, grateful that it was the weekend, and then I suddenly bolted up out of bed in a panic. It wasn't the weekend! It was Friday. I had classes to teach and patrols to do. Grabbing for my schedule, I suddenly realized that I had about five minutes before my breakfast shift was about to start.

Throwing on the first outfit I could find, I bolted out the door, thankful that I'd at least mastered the route from my quarters to the Great Hall.

I was only a couple of minutes late, really not a huge deal. Except that when I came bursting through the double doors at 6:02AM, I learned a most unfortunate fact. The person with whom I was to supervise breakfast with this morning was Tessa Flitwick.

"You're late," she said from her seat at the head table. Her arms were crossed, and her body looked angry, but her face was gleeful.

"Barely," I insisted, hurrying up to my own seat. "And there aren't even any students here yet, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is, you were late," Tessa insisted. "I don't think the Headmaster will be all too happy when he finds out."

"I think he'll be able to forgive me being two minutes late to a _breakfast_ shift," I shot back. "It's not like I was late to dinner and the students were running amok."

I was getting really fed up with Tessa and her high and mighty attitude. I had no idea why she seemed to dislike me so much – it wasn't as though I'd done anything to her personally.

Then Tessa's gaze moved down from my face to my torso, and her expression turned from one of satisfaction to one of disgust.

"Don't tell me _that's_ supposed to be fashionable in the muggle world?" she sneered.

I looked down and realized that in my hurry to make it to breakfast, I'd put my shirt on backwards. The tag was sticking out at the top and everything.

But I wasn't about to give Tessa the satisfaction of thinking that I was incapable of dressing myself.

"Of course not," I scoffed, fighting the urge to at least fix the tag, which now that I was aware of it, was tickling my neck and making it very difficult to focus on anything else. "It's a test for my students, to see who realizes that I'm wearing the shirt wrong, and who doesn't notice a thing."

"That's quite an odd test," Tessa commented, seemingly unconvinced.

I shrugged. "You have your way of teaching and I have mine," I replied.

"Yes, and my way of teaching is in line with the standards set out by the Ministry of Magic," Tessa replied. "Tell me, are you planning on adhering to a traditional curriculum, or are you a fan of Augusta Clagg's updated version?"

"Oh, well uh… I'm actually making my own curriculum," I replied.

"Well that's awfully cavalier of you," Tessa declared. "So, you're saying you're smarter than Augusta Clagg?"

I was growing weary of this back and forth. Tessa didn't like me, so be it. That didn't mean she needed to keep attacking me for no reason.

"I'm not saying I'm smarter than anybody," I informed her. "But I do think I know more about muggle culture than anyone here, seeing as I am a muggle and have lived in it for my entire life."

"There are tons of witches and wizards who live in the muggle world," Tessa insisted. "And if they didn't understand it well enough, don't you think our secret would have got out long ago? We don't need a muggle to teach muggle studies. The wizarding world has gotten along just fine on its own this long."

"That may be so," I agreed. It wasn't my place to cast judgements on my predecessors or on how my subject had been taught before I got here. "But I'm here now, and this is how I intend to teach. At least as long as Headmaster Slinkhard will keep me."

"I can assure you, it won't be long," Tessa declared.

I didn't bother to respond to her this time, instead choosing to focus on eating a hearty breakfast. I hadn't eaten much yesterday and wanted to make sure I had all my strength today as I had a total of three classes to teach, including the seventh years. Which of course meant one thing: Donnor Dalman.

Students began trickling in for breakfast, and soon the Hall was filled with chatter and laughter and the sounds of forks and knives scraping against plates. I noticed that Skye and Cameron were both conspicuously absent from breakfast and wondered how late they'd stayed out the previous night.

I ate my fill and then spent the remainder of breakfast seeing if I could recognize my students from the sea of faces, I was looking down on. I identified a few and praised myself on remembering some of their names as well.

By the time breakfast came to a close, I was feeling much more myself and I was ready to get back to work. I had an hour before my sixth-year class started and I intended to make sure I was prepped and raring to go.


	21. The Seventh Years

Chapter 21: The Seventh Years

I had my seventh years for fifth period, which meant I had lots of time to get worked up ahead of time. I knew I shouldn't be stressed out. I knew that as a teacher, I should feel confident and in control, but I didn't. I was nervous. I honestly didn't know whether Donnor Dalman would show up to class today, but if he did, I knew he was going to go out of my way to make things difficult, just as he had in detention.

Skye tried reassuring me at lunch, but even all her comforting words didn't assuage my trepidation. I knew I was the teacher and he was the student. I knew that I had the power and the authority. I knew that I could always take away house points or assign detention if he acted out. I knew Headmaster Slinkhard would back me up on any decision I made. But I was still nervous. And though I didn't mention it to Skye, my conversation with Tessa Flitwick that morning hadn't made me feel any better.

I was in my office when the students began filing into the classroom. I'd spent the last hour going over my lesson plan, to make sure that I knew exactly what I wanted to say and cover during the one-hour period. I knew that if he was present, Donnor would likely try to throw me off, so I needed to be prepared.

I checked the time and saw that there were only a couple of minutes left before the start of class. Curiously, I peeked out the small crack between my office door and the wall, attempting to spy on my class just a little.

It looked like everyone was following my wand ban. The basket that was now positioned at the doorway to my class was full of the wooden sticks. The seventh years milled about in the room, chatting with each other in the few minutes they had left before the lesson began. And as I continued to watch them all, I saw Donnor Dalman step into the classroom.

The first thing he noticed was the basket of wands by the door. He looked down on it, an unhappy expression on his face. I'd expected a degree of resistance, and I was immensely glad that I wasn't actually in the room while this happened. It would have been immensely uncomfortable to have to have this face off with him all over again.

He stared at the wand basket longer than any other student, clearly waging a war within himself. I could see the conflict inside, and a part of me hoped that he just turned around and walked away. But then he produced his wand, carefully placed it in the basket, and took his seat.

I pulled away from my position of spying and took a few deep breaths. So Donnor Dalman would be staying in my class. I could handle this. It would be fine. One entitled seventeen-year-old wizard wasn't going to be my downfall. I wouldn't let it. And whatever happened here, I knew I could always vent about it to my friends later if I needed to, and they would listen with open and empathetic ears.

I checked the time again and knew that I needed to start class now unless I wanted to become known not just as the muggle professor, but the tardy muggle professor. So, steeling myself, I opened the door separating my office from the classroom and stepped up behind my desk at the front.

"Alright," I began, immediately regretting my weak opening. I needed to sound more confident, more in control. "Now that we've been acquainted and we've gone over the classroom policies, I want to go over the curriculum we're going to be covering this term."

I paused for just a moment, glancing over the room to ascertain the mood. So far, everyone seemed attentive, so I continued.

"Now, I know Professor Carborough had his way of teaching, but I'm going to be doing things differently this year," I declared.

There was a cough from the back of the room, and I was pretty sure I heard someone mutter 'no kidding', but I couldn't identify the culprit, so I decided to ignore the comment and continue.

"I intend to bring a semblance of structure to this subject. Structure that I believe has been lacking thus far. As such, each of my classes will be focusing on one major theme for the duration of the year which will encompass a wide variety of topics. For this class, that theme will be muggle beliefs and cosmology."

A hand went up at the back of the room. It belonged to a girl with a blue and bronze tie.

"Yes Miss…?" I acknowledged her while blanking on her name. In my defence, I had a lot of names to learn.

"Mara Taylor," she said as she lowered her hand. "I was just wondering whether you were going to take attendance today."

I mentally chastised myself for forgetting such an important thing. I'd been so distracted by Donnor Dalman and my worries that he was going to cause a disturbance that I'd completely forgotten. But I couldn't admit that in front of my students.

"Actually Miss Taylor," I said, "I won't be taking attendance every class. We only have an hour together, and that isn't vey much time. I want to make sure that we maximize your learning."

"But how will you keep track of those of us who aren't coming to class?" she insisted. "What if someone decides to skive off and spend the period sunbathing on the grounds?"

From the way that she said it, I suspected that she wasn't actually concerned about attendance, but more interested in being an annoyance. She wanted to distract me, throw me off. I wasn't about to let that happen.

"You're all of age as I understand it," I said with a shrug. "You're taking this class by choice. Nobody's forcing you to be here. If you'd rather spend the period sunbathing, then go right ahead. But when you fail your exam at the end of the year, I don't want to hear any complaining."

This answer seemingly wasn't what Mara Taylor had expected. She looked a little put out that I hadn't let her rile me up at all, or that I hadn't gotten flustered over forgetting something.

"Now, if we can get back to the topic at hand," I said, refocusing the class' attention. "Muggle beliefs and cosmology. This year we are going to talk about muggle belief systems and ways of looking at the world. We're going to talk about how they formulate questions and answers about the world that we live in, where it came from, and why it is the way that it is. We're going to talk about how they rationalize their lack of magic despite living in a world that's full of it. We're going to look at the overlap between the magical and non-magical worlds. And finally, we're going to look at ways that the magical and nonmagical worlds actually aren't as separate as you may think."

Another hand went up and I silently cursed myself for forgetting to do the attendance. Somehow the only name I actually remembered in this entire room was Donnor Dalman's, and he was being surprisingly quiet, sitting at his desk with his arms folded across his chest and a small smirk playing across his lips.

"Go ahead Mr…?"

"Anthony Gesell," the student said. I noted that he too wore a blue and bronze tie, just like Mara Taylor and just like Donnor Dalman. "I just wanted to ask… I mean I understand why you're qualified to teach us about staplers and binders and ballpoint pens. I even understand why you might be qualified to teach us about electricity and the nature of muggle politics. But what qualifies you to talk about the intersection of the magical and nonmagical communities? Didn't you just learn that we existed a little over a month ago?"

"Thank you for the question," I said, refusing to be rattled by it. I couldn't say I hadn't been expecting such an inquiry, especially from my seventh years, to whom I'd be teaching the most challenging curriculum this year. But the question felt a lot more like a challenge with Donnor Dalman watching me the way that he was. "And I want to start off by saying that I do not think that I know more about the magical community than any of you do. I would never try to claim anything of the sort. But I do know a lot more about the muggle community than you all do. And I'm hoping that together, we can bridge that gap together."

I was definitely counting on my seventh years to be more accommodating of my lack of knowledge of their world. When I'd put together the curriculum, I'd figured that as the oldest and most mature of my students, we could have more of a back and forth type learning environment, rather than me standing at the front of the room and lecturing them for an hour twice a week. Of course, if they didn't cooperate, I might have to rethink my plan.

Another student raised her hand and I braced myself as I called on her.

"Maisie Brown," she identified herself. "I just want to say that I think that's a really cool approach. And really, isn't the whole point of this class to be able to have dialogue between magical and nonmagical people? For us all to be able to go into the nonmagical community and maintain the International Statute of Secrecy? What better way to learn to do that than by learning from and talking to an actual muggle? I'm really excited to see what you do with this class, Professor Harris. And I'm really excited to learn what you have to teach."

This time, I had to resist the urge to run over and hug the student.

"Thank you for saying that Miss Brown," I said, noting that her tie was the yellow and black of Hufflepuff. "I appreciate your support." I made sure to smile in her direction.

Before I could continue my lesson, another hand went up.

"Christina Underwood," the girl in the scarlet and gold tie identified herself even before I had time to call on her. "I just had a quick question about the curriculum."

"Alright," I nodded, curious to see what she had to say.

"Professor Carborough's curriculum was quite different from yours," the girl began. "But he did have a structure, and it was designed so that by the time we sit our N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, we'd have all the necessary information. I'm just worried that with you changing the structure so suddenly, that it might result in gaps in our knowledge."

This was actually a fair question, and one that I was prepared to answer.

"I've looked over examples of N.E.W.T. exams, and I've compared that to the content that you've learned from Professor Carborough thus far. I am confident that when you go to sit your N.E.W.T.s, you'll have all the knowledge that you'll need. Furthermore, I feel confident that even beyond your N.E.W.T.s, my method of teaching will prepare you even better for real practical applications of this subject outside of school. One of my goals is of course to get you all through your exams. But another one of my goals is to make you all comfortable enough to go out into the muggle world with confidence."

I could see that my answer was well received when many of my students began to nod their heads. I could already start to feel myself starting to relax. This class was going much better than I'd anticipated, and I was actually finding that I was enjoying myself. Teaching thirteen-year-olds about school supplies was fun and all, but this was a class of adults, at least as far as wizarding standards went. I could talk to them on more equal terms.

I was about to launch back into my speech when another hand went up. My heart immediately sunk when I saw who it was attached to.

"Mr. Dalman?" I called on him out of obligation. I couldn't very well ignore his hand when I'd allowed so many others to pose questions.

"What qualifies you to speak on behalf of the entire muggle community?" he demanded. His posture was relaxed. His arms remained crossed in front of him, in a defensive position. He leaned back in his chair as if inviting me to fight him. But I wasn't going to rise to the challenge. I wasn't going to let Donnor Dalman be my undoing.

"Absolutely nothing," I declared, much to the entire class' surprise. Even Donnor looked a little caught off guard by my answer. He'd probably been expecting me to defend my credentials, or feed him a line about talking to the Headmaster. But if I wanted to develop an open and honest dialogue with my seventh-year students, then I needed to start now.

"Then what am I doing in this class?" Donnor demanded.

"I am just a regular person," I said. "I didn't have an extraordinary childhood. I was raised by two parents in a middle-class home. I went to the local public schools, and then when the time came, I spent four years in university and received a bachelor's degree in anthropology. I stumbled across this job by accident, and I suspect that I was hired because nobody else was applying for the position."

"But that doesn't mean you can't learn anything from me," I continued. "I may not be anyone special, but I think that's what makes me an ideal candidate for this job. I'm as average as you can get. I don't speak for all muggles. I'm not their leader. I don't have anything extra to offer like I'm sure many other people would. But I'm a perfect example of the everyday person. I'm the person that you're going to run in to on the street. I'm the person you're going to need to hide your magic from. I am your ultimate test."

There was a highly charged moment where nobody moved. I'd finished my speech and the ball was back in Donnor's court now. The rest of the class could sense it too, and they looked back and forth from me to him, waiting to see how he reacted.

His gaze pierced me in the most uncomfortable way, but I refused to look away. This was the moment. This was when I either earned his respect, or lost him forever. I waited. And waited. And waited.

And then Donnor inclined his head and uncrossed his arms.

"Fair enough," he said.

I let out a sigh of relief. Though it wouldn't seem like much to an onlooker, those two words spoke volumes. And I was mostly thankful that I wasn't about to spend my entire year here fighting with him.

"Any other questions?" I asked.

There weren't. And so, I continued my lesson.


	22. Slytherin Tryouts

Chapter 22: Slytherin Tryouts

It was a good thing I could sleep in on Thursdays, because it definitely wasn't an option on Saturdays. I was scheduled to supervise breakfast, after which I had a three-hour long hall patrol and then another shift in the Great Hall supervising lunch. By the time the afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted.

The castle had a completely different feel to it now that it was filled with students. Everywhere I went now, I would run into different groups of them. Sometimes they were simply on their way somewhere. Sometimes they were loitering in the halls. Sometimes I ran across a group doing magic, and I'd stop and take a minute to just marvel at it. The other professors didn't use it much around me, but I came across students using it all the time. It was fascinating.

But, with so many more people around, it also reminded me of my friends and family back home. It was easy to forget to miss them when there had been so few of us in the castle. But watching the students interact with each other on such a familiar basis reminded me that I hadn't talked to any of my friends since I'd been here.

I considered writing to them. I had the afternoon free, and I did miss talking to them. But as I stared at the paper and pen before me, I realized I didn't have anyone to write to. If I'd had my phone, I might have shot off a quick message to any number of my friends, but none of them were people I would sit and compose an entire letter to. What would I even say? Even if there wasn't a restriction on what I was and wasn't allowed to talk about, I couldn't imagine my friends wanting to hear about my first week as a teacher.

Instead, I got up and headed back out into the corridor. I didn't want to be alone in my quarters, I wanted to be out among people. It was a strange new feeling for me, having always been one to prefer staying in than going out to party. But stranger still would be sitting alone in my room while so much was going on outside.

Glancing out the window, I saw a great deal of movement over by the quidditch pitch. It looked like a bunch of people flying, and I felt my curiosity piqued. I'd watched Skye fly of course. Cameron and Alex as well, the day we'd sorted through the school brooms. But this looked like something different.

It didn't take too long for me to get downstairs and across the grounds. I had reached the point now where I knew how to get almost anywhere, and I had a strong enough rapport with the paintings that they were willing to help direct me when I got lost.

When I reached the quidditch pitch, I didn't see Skye anywhere, but I did see a lot of students in green and silver. One older student appeared to be in charge of the group, and I realized that this must be quidditch tryouts. I slipped into the stands unnoticed, eager and curious to see them play out.

Lucky for me, I seemed to have arrived towards the beginning of the tryout. From what I could tell, the captain was currently holding tryouts for the position of goalie. One after another, students flew up to guard the three huge hoops, and the captain would attempt to score on them by throwing a ball towards one of the hoops. The prospective goalies were seemingly being ranked based on how many goals they were able to save, and despite the fact that I'd never seen this game played before, I felt that I was following along rather well.

That is, until the goalie tryouts were done and they began tryouts for a different position that involved trying to hit two balls that could fly around on their own with bats.

"Hey." Skye slid into the stands next to me as I watched the students zoom around the pitch at top speeds, still marvelling a bit over the fact that they were flying and that this was considered normal. "Enjoying the tryout?"

"What are they doing?" I asked, pointing to the players holding bats and hitting the zooming balls back and forth at each other.

"Beater tryouts," Skye said, as if this explained anything. Seeing my still confused expression, Skye quickly explained to me about beaters and bludgers and how they fit into the game of quidditch.

"So basically, you want to take a game that could have been simple and just make it super dangerous," I surmised a little judgementally. What would be so complicated about a game with one ball where players attempted to score on the other team's goalie, racking up points until the game's end, when the team with the most points would be the winner? Why did they have to add extra elements that not only complicated the game, but made it life-threatening?

Skye shrugged. "Danger looks different from a wizarding perspective than from a muggle one," she reminded me. "With healing spells and potions, an injury sustained in the muggle world that might require weeks to heal could be taken care of within minutes or hours."

I nodded, thinking of my sixth-year curriculum on health and wellness. I'd would be teaching my students about the differences between magical and nonmagical medicines and treatments for various kinds of ills, but I hadn't thought about how that would relate to our perceptions of danger. I made a mental note to remember this and to write it down the next time I was in my office.

"So, do you want to do something after this?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Can't," Skye said apologetically. "I have to supervise free fly when the Slytherins are done here."

"Too bad," I commented, trying to figure out what I could do.

Now that I'd gotten my curriculum sorted, I didn't have all that much left to do in terms of lesson planning. In fact, all my lesson plans for next week were already finished, and I didn't want to get too far ahead with them because I wanted them to be flexible. And since my first homework assignments weren't due yet, I didn't have any marking do to either.

We watched the Slytherin tryouts for a little longer in a comfortable silence, and then as if out of nowhere, Skye blurted out, "I know you were in Hogsmeade the other day."

I froze. I didn't know how to respond. I'd all but filed what I'd learned that day away into a drawer in my mind to be closed and not looked at. I had never expected Cameron to bring it up to me again, and certainly hadn't expected to be talking about it with Skye.

"Oh," I said, caught off guard. "Well that's – yeah alright."

"I know you know I was meeting Cameron," she said very directly.

"Right," I nodded. "You were probably just having a business dinner and wanted to get out of the castle for a – "

"We were on a date," Skye interrupted me.

I certainly hadn't been expecting this kind of blunt honesty, and quite frankly I didn't know what to do with it. Skye was looking at me expectantly though, and I felt obligated to say something.

"That's… great," I said. "How long have you – "

"It was only our first date," Skye said. "We didn't tell anybody because we weren't sure whether it would go well, and we didn't want things to be weird with our co-workers if we decided just to be friends."

"So, you're telling me now because…?"

"Well you saw me. Cam told me he ran into you and you saw me coming into the pub. I didn't want there to be any awkwardness between us," she said.

"Right," I nodded. In my discomfort, I kept my eyes trained on the tryout instead of looking at Skye.

As a result of my spending most of my life staying home and watching TV instead of going out with friends, I actually didn't have all that much experience with these sorts of conversations. I didn't know what the appropriate thing to say was, and I didn't want to mess things up by saying something wrong, so instead I opted for not saying much of anything.

The silence between us stretched to uncomfortable lengths and I realized that it was possible that it would be more awkward if I didn't say anything, so I searched my mind for something to say.

"So… how did it go?" I asked, honestly curious about the answer but worried I was prying too much. Though I considered Skye one of my best friends, I realized that for her I was just a girl she'd met little over a month ago. She may not want to pour out her emotions to me. I certainly wasn't ready to tell her every one of my innermost thoughts and secrets.

There was a terribly uncomfortable moment when Skye didn't say anything and I feared I'd messed things up by asking. But then she spoke.

"I think it went really well," she confessed. "I mean, we've known each other for a while, and we've always been really good friends, but I think I'm starting to see him differently. There's definitely something there, I just don't know what it is yet."

"That's great," I smiled. "I hope it works out. You two would make a really cute couple."

"And hey, maybe if it does, we could go on a double date sometime," Skye said with a grin.

"Double date?" I frowned, sure that I was missing something.

"With you and Alex of course!" Skye said.

I immediately felt my face heat up and turned back to watching the Slytherin tryouts.

"For the millionth time, Alex and I are not dating," I insisted. "We barely know each other."

"You're not fooling anyone," Skye rolled her eyes. "I don't care what you tell yourself. You like him, and he obviously likes you. It's only a matter of time."

I self-conscious muttered something unintelligible and Skye just chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"You'll be fine," she assured me. "Just go with it. Let it happen however it's meant to happen. Don't fight it and everything will work out the way it should. I've got your back."

The Slytherin tryouts lasted a while longer, and then they vacated the pitch and Skye headed off to get things ready for free fly. I headed back up to the castle and decided to head in the direction of the teacher's lounge to see if anyone else was just hanging around.

As I stepped off the Grand Staircase and into the corridor, I heard voices that indicated that there were students in the corridor. From the sounds of it, some sort of an altercation was taking place, and I paused before rounding the corner to assess the situation.

"I don't think you're listening to what I'm saying," one voice called out. "The next time you try to talk to my girlfriend, I'm going to hex you into next week."

"I wasn't hitting on her," a second voice spoke up. "We're doing a project together. How are we supposed to do that if I can't talk to her?"

"Find another partner," the first voice insisted. "I don't want her working with someone like you."

"The partners were assigned," the second voice retorted. "It's not like we had a choice in the matter."

"Then talk to the professor," the first voice said angrily. "Or I will, if you're too pathetic to handle your own affairs."

I felt like I should intervene. As a teacher, it was my responsibility to break up these kinds of things. Though they weren't technically breaking any rules, I wondered if a deduction of house points would be warranted in a situation like this.

"I can handle my affairs just fine on my own," the second voice cried. "You're just going to have to deal with the fact that Lisa and I are doing this project. And we're going to be doing this project _all term long_."

Before I had the chance to step in, a bright purple light filled the corridor and I heard the slam of a body hitting the wall. I ran forward and then froze when I came upon the scene to find two seventh year boys squaring off, wands out and pointed directly at each other.

"Hex me again," the boy with the second voice challenged.

The first boy snarled, and without saying any kind of incantation, a red jet of light shot out of his wand, but the second boy dodged out of the way.

The second boy took the offensive next, sending a spiralling jet of blue light in the first boy's direction.

I was frozen where I stood, mesmerized and terrified by what I was witnessing before me. I'd seen magic being cast before, of course. I'd been living in a magical castle for over a month. I'd seen people levitate things, create fire where there hadn't been any before, cause objects to turn into other objects. I'd seen people open doors with a flick of the wand, cause broken teacups to mend themselves, and summon all manner of objects from across rooms. But this was the first time I'd seen people attacking each other with it in such a malicious way and I didn't know what to make of it.

I knew of course that magic could be used as a weapon. I knew that wizarding duels were a thing that happened, and I knew that an entire wizarding war had been waged only two decades ago. But knowing and seeing were two vey different things.

A jet of orange light shot past my cheek, missing me by mere inches, and it pushed me into action. Running forward, I put on my strongest and strictest teacher voice and stepped in between the two students.

"I demand that you stop this fight immediately," I ordered.

And a jet of light hit me square in the chest.


	23. Disciplinarian

Chapter 23: Disciplinarian

I felt my entire body seize up. I couldn't move. My arms glued themselves to my sides, my legs glued themselves to each other. I lost my balance, and since I couldn't move, was unable to regain it and went crashing into the ground. I couldn't even attempt to cushion my fall by throwing out my hands because I was paralyzed.

"Now look what you've done!" the second boy cried while the first boy stood still and white-faced.

I was still completely aware of everything that was going on around me, and strangely I could still move my eyes within their sockets, even if I couldn't move my head. So, I could see the first boy staring down at me with regret and fear. I could see the second boy shaking his head. And finally, I could see Alex appear on the scene, his face red with fury as he took in what he was seeing.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, looking between the two boys.

As he asked this, he produced his wand and wordlessly undid whatever spell had been cast on me. I felt my muscles relax and I began to move them slowly, testing them out before trying anything as crazy as standing up.

"It wasn't my fault!" the first boy insisted. "She just ran in front of my wand!"

"He started the duel," the second boy insisted. "I was only defending myself."

At this point, I was able to pick myself up off the floor and I moved so that I was next to Alex instead of behind him.

"I was on my way to the teacher's lounge when I came across these two having a dispute," I explained. "The dispute quickly turned into a duel, and I tried to step in to end things. Unfortunately, I stepped in at the wrong moment and was hit by some stray magic."

Though the two boys should absolutely be punished for duelling in the halls, which I knew was against the rules, I didn't want the first boy to get in extra trouble for hexing a teacher. It was my own fault for stepping into the middle of a duel. I should have known better. Even in a nonmagical fistfight, stepping in the middle was never a good idea.

Alex looked from the two boys to me and then back to them again. "Twenty points from each Gryffindor and Slytherin for duelling in the halls," he declared. "And the next time Professor Harris tells you to stop something, I expect you to stop."

The two boys looked appropriately shame-faced and took off in the direction of the Grand Staircase, eager to get away before they received any worse punishment.

Once they were gone, Alex immediately turned to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

I nodded. "I'm fine," I assured him. "Just a little stiff. I shouldn't have got between them like that. I wasn't thinking."

"It was the first duel you'd seen," Alex said in understanding. "Now you'll know better for next time."

We began to walk in the direction of the teacher's lounge.

"What were they fighting about anyway?" Alex wondered.

I shrugged. "It sounded like they were fighting over a girl," I said. "Except the second boy – that is, the Slytherin boy – didn't seem interested in her at all. The Gryffindor one was just jealous that they were doing a project together. It was all very overexaggerated."

Alex nodded. "Now might be a good time to explain to you about Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry," he said, pushing the door to the teacher's lounge open.

The only other people in the lounge were Andromeda Tonks and Mark Stern, who were having their own conversation and barely paid us any attention when we entered.

"Alright," I said readily, taking a seat in one of the more comfortable chairs as my joints were still sore from the paralysis magic.

Alex launched into a detailed account of the very antagonistic history between Gryffindors and Slytherins, which it seemed had begun hundreds of years ago, but had reached a peak during the second wizarding war. It was fascinating, and gave me a lot to think about with regards to my own classes and the students I had in them.

As Alex wrapped up, Cameron appeared in the doorway of the lounge looking scandalized.

"I heard Katie got cursed!" he cried. As his eyes landed on me, his expression turned to one of confusion with a hint of disappointment. "Which obvious isn't true since you're sitting right there. Damn fourth years and their gossip."

"I did get cursed actually," I spoke up. "Well, I don't know if it was really a _curse_, but I was briefly paralysed."

"Full Bond-Bind," Alex filled in the detail that I was missing. "She was trying to diffuse a duel in the hallway."

"Ah," Cameron nodded in understanding as he joined us. "Well good for you, Katie."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. "I'm a teacher. It's my job, even if I wasn't technically on hall patrol. Or would you have expected me to run screaming in the other direction at the sight of magic?"

"I didn't – that's not what I – "

I sighed. "It's fine, never mind," I muttered. I had to stop being so oversensitive about being a muggle. The fact was that I was one, and because of that, things would be different for me than other teachers. "Oh, and Alex, next time, I can dock points myself thank you very much."

"Of course," Alex said immediately. "I didn't mean to undermine you; I'm just so used to dealing with misbehaving students."

I nodded in satisfaction. As long as they both recognized that I was equally as capable.

I had my second night patrol the following night, and to my dismay, I discovered that it was with Tessa. We met outside Mr. Clarke's office and she sneered at me.

"So I guess I'll be doing all the work tonight," she said with an audible sigh.

"I'm perfectly capable of supervising the halls, thank you very much," I returned.

I hadn't sought out to create an enemy of Tessa Flitwick. In fact, I'd have liked it very much if I could just get along with all the other teachers. But she seemed adamant on treating me like a pebble in her shoe, and I couldn't just ignore that and pretend everything was fine.

"I can't believe they let you do patrols at night," Tessa rolled her eyes. "Anyone could get away with anything and you'd have no idea they were even out of bed."

I crossed my arms. "I'll have you know; I broke up a fight between a couple of seventh years yesterday," I said.

"I did hear about that actually," Tessa replied. "My students told me that you jumped in the middle of a wizard's duel and got hit with a full body-bind. Amateur move."

"That could have happened to anyone," I insisted. "If the students had stopped duelling when I told them to – "

"I also heard you had to be rescued by Alex Campbell," Tessa continued. "That must have been humiliating. And I bet it was a huge inconvenience for him as well."

"It was not!" I exclaimed. "And if I hadn't been there, he still would have had to break up the fight. Besides, he didn't mind. We're friends."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Tessa said with a smirk, pushing open the door to Mr. Clarke's office and stepping inside.

Though Alex and I had walked the same route the first night so that he could show me the ropes, now that I was trained in night patrols, Tessa and I were presented with different routes to walk. I was immensely grateful that I hadn't had Tessa for my first night patrol.

My route was long, but straightforward. I took the parchment and set out immediately, not bothering to wait for Tessa to get hers.

The first hour of my patrol was exceptionally boring. I searched everywhere I could think of, but didn't find any students wandering illicitly or loitering where they shouldn't be. As I began my second hour, I switched from patrolling the lower floors to patrolling some of the higher floors. It seemed that Mr. Clarke wanted me to pop by a number of the seventh-floor towers and thoroughly search them. It was too bad there were no escalators at Hogwarts, because it was going to mean a lot of stairs.

As I climbed the stairs of what had once been the divination tower, but was now just another abandoned classroom since divination was no longer an elective that was offered at Hogwarts, I heard noise coming from above.

I figured it could just be rats scampering around. After all, the divination tower was never used anymore and was probably full of dust and cobwebs and supplies that hadn't been used for years. But I was on patrol, so I had to go up and check it out.

I pushed the trapdoor open and peeked into the classroom.

I hadn't actually been up here before. I'd passed by the bottom of the tower, and the other teachers had told me about the old divination classroom, but there had never been any reason to go exploring in what now amounted to a forgotten storeroom. The room was circular, as could be expected of a tower. There were boxes all over, the contents spilling out of many. I saw lots of different colored pillows, decks of cards, crystal balls, and numerous tea sets littering the room, among other things. The desks were piled up on one side of the room and a large sheet lay on the floor next to them. It looked like the sheet had originally been on top of the desks, but had since fallen off.

I could hear the noise more clearly now, and I knew immediately that it wasn't coming from rats. I felt my face heat up as I realized what I had walked in on, and it went even redder when I realized that I now had to interrupt it.

I cleared my throat as loudly as I could, and spoke in as loud and confident voice as I could muster.

"Curfew was over an hour ago."

At my words, there was instant silence and I continued to stand where I was, half out of the trapdoor and half still standing on the ladder that led up to the tower. I definitely didn't want to move any further into the room quite yet, but I couldn't go backwards either.

"I know you're in there. You can either come out, or I can come in and find you. I think we'd both prefer it if you chose to go with the first."

There was another moment of silence, and then the sounds of two people getting up and making themselves presentable before stepping out from behind some boxes with sheepish expressions on their faces.

I was surprised when I realized that I recognized the two students. It was Philip Longman and Kate Sparks, from my fifth-year class. Alex had warned me about them. He'd advised me to separate them in class since they were dating and apparently couldn't pay attention when around each other. I now realized that they were even more difficult than that.

I stepped down the ladder onto the landing at the top of the spiralling staircase to give them both space to step down as well. When they joined me on solid ground, I placed my hands on my hips and affixed them with my best 'you're in trouble' glare.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" I demanded.

"We're sorry, Professor Harris," Philip said, looking at the floor. Kate stood slightly behind him, also refusing to make eye contact. Both looked flushed and disheveled, and I tried not to think about what I'd just interrupted and focus on the breaking of curfew. "But it's difficult. We both have dormmates, and there are always people in the common room. When are we supposed to – "

"Do not finish that sentence," I ordered, putting up a hand as my ears screamed uncomfortably. "I don't care what you do in your personal lives, but it is way past curfew and you are most definitely not in Gryffindor Tower right now."

Both students looked appropriately ashamed, and I was relieved I didn't have a couple of defiant Gryffindor lovers to deal with at least.

"Ten points from Gryffindor each," I decided. "And if I ever catch you out together past curfew again, it'll be more than that. Now come on, I've got to escort you back to your house."

The walk back to Gryffindor Tower was extremely awkward. I made each of them walk on either side of me, and they kept looking across me at each other with that starry-eyed expression that you have when you're a teenager and in love.

We reached their common room without incident, and I waited until they were safely inside to continue my patrol.

By the time my three-hour patrol was finished, I was exhausted. I submitted my report to Mr. Clarke, detailing the incident with the two students I'd caught in the divination tower and headed back to my quarters, ready to crash. Though I didn't have to be at breakfast to supervise, I did have my third-year class first thing, so I wouldn't be able to sleep in the following morning.

I realized that as awkward and uncomfortable as the encounter had been, I was proud of myself. I'd handled the situation professionally, and had successfully disciplined the students involved. Twenty house points wasn't a whole lot in the way of punishment, but I sensed that the humiliation of being caught by a teacher would go a long way to preventing a repeat of tonight.

I was really starting to feel it now. This job wasn't hypothetical anymore. This past week had been crazy and hectic, but I could finally say it with a straight face. It wasn't the job I'd thought I'd wanted, but it was the job I'd taken. I was a teacher.


	24. Football

Chapter 24: Football

The next three weeks passed rather smoothly. My classes were going well, my students were listening to me, I'd made it clear to the school that my being a muggle didn't make me any less of an authority figure, and my old life was starting to feel like the dream and this my reality. I didn't miss my phone anymore, I rarely found myself wishing for a TV or computer to binge-watch television shows. In fact, without my devices, I was forced to spend more time with my friends and out and about in the castle and for once I really felt like I was a part of something.

Cam and Skye had gone on a few more dates since the one I'd accidentally almost crashed in Hogsmeade. Alex knew they were dating as well, which was good because it was always uncomfortable having to keep things secret, especially when you see a person every day. Alex and I remained very good friends, and every now and then I wondered if maybe we were moving towards something more, but nothing had happened yet. And I was afraid to say anything, because if I was wrong, it would make things so awkward for the next nine months until school let out and my contract was up.

As October descended upon Hogwarts castle, I began to transition my classes into new topics. In my seventh-year class, I began a unit on various muggle religions around the world. My sixth years were learning about muggle medicines. For my fifth years, we followed up our discussion of electricity and power with a study of various types of energy and a discussion about renewable vs. non-renewable resources. I was preparing them for a conversation about the concept of climate change, which I suspected would be a controversial topic. As for my fourth years, they were about to learn all about the muggle postage system.

But it was my third years I was most excited about. According to the curriculum I'd created back in August, they were scheduled to learn about muggle sports, like football and basketball. But after weeks of watching the various house quidditch teams practicing down on the pitch with Skye, I'd gotten to thinking that a more experiential learning might be in order. After all, what better way to teach my students about football than to have them play it?

The supplies were easy enough to come by. Skye found the materials necessary for constructing some crude nets in one of her storage spaces and with the help of Headmaster Slinkhard, I placed a special order for the actual foot ball using my budget. I felt it was best to get a proper foot ball. It wasn't like they were that expensive in the grand scheme of things.

I had my third-year class first thing in the morning on Mondays and Wednesdays. I decided that it would be best to have this lesson take place on a Monday, since I wouldn't have to supervise breakfast and would have time to get things set up outside. A tour of the grounds the previous afternoon had allowed me to locate the perfect location to set up my makeshift football field. I placed the nets the appropriate distance apart, and used a couple of quaffles I'd borrowed from Skye and had her enchant to be a neon orange color as markers of center field.

I'd instructed my third years to gather in the entrance courtyard that morning instead of coming to class so as not to waste any time. I hadn't told them what I had in store, nor did anyone besides Skye and Headmaster Slinkhard know the specifics of my plans, so when I arrived to retrieve them, they were all curious and excited, some of them a little nervous as well.

"Good morning everyone," I greeted them, gathering them all together in a group. "Now we're going to be doing something a little different today. Do you all remember last class when we talked about the sport muggles refer to as football?"

Most of the class nodded. I figured even if some of them didn't remember the specifics, this lesson would help them to grasp the important points.

"Well, follow me," I instructed, leading them out of the courtyard, onto the grounds, and around the castle to the flat bit I'd chosen for my football field.

When we came within view of the field and the nets, one of my students gasped.

"Are we – do we get to actually play?" Sarah Clarke exclaimed.

Excited murmurs broke out amongst the class and I smiled to myself, happy to have come up with such an ingenious lesson.

I had the students gather around for a quick refresher on some of the main rules before splitting them into teams. There were nineteen students in the class, so I split them into two teams of nine, leaving one to be the referee.

"I'll be keeper – er, goalie!" John Shepard volunteered, running to stand in front of one of the nets.

The rest of the students quickly split themselves up into offense and defense, while Hunter Abner took the other position of goalie. Normally a team would have had eleven players on each side, but I decided that for the purposes of this lesson, we didn't need to worry about that. This was more to give the students a feel for how the game worked.

I handed the football to Kelsey Wickman, who was currently filling the role of referee, and she strode out onto the field and placed it on the grass between the two teams, lining it up with the neon orange quaffles on either end of the field. She stepped back, and then counted down from three to signify the start of the game.

The first few minutes were hilarious. The thirteen-year-old witches and wizards had been overconfident in their ability to play the muggle game that they hadn't considered that most of them had never kicked a ball before. Almost all the students that were playing offense ran for the ball at the same time, many of them kicking out their feet, but instead of kicking the ball, they ended up running into each other and a few of them fell to the ground.

I had to stifle my laughter, aware that this was still a lesson.

"Alright, let's try that again," I ordered as they picked themselves back up.

The second attempt went better, but they still looked like a bunch of five-year-old children playing football for the first time. Many of them would get frustrated and pick the ball up with their hands, causing Kelsey to scream 'foul' at the top of her lungs smugly. There was also a great deal of running after the ball that had to happen due to the fact that the students all had terrible kicking aim. But I could tell that they were having fun, and every now and then I would call a short pause to the game to do a little bit of teaching and have them rotate positions so that they could all get a feel for different parts of the game.

About halfway through the hour, I realized that we had an audience. Though most students were in class at the moment, some of the sixth and seventh years had free periods, and a few of the teachers did as well. There were some figures leaning out of castle windows, watching with interest as my third years ran around chasing a black and white ball, and a few even ventured out of the castle, looking on from the sidelines. At one point, I sensed someone near me, and I looked over to find Skye looking on with interest.

"So, this is football?" she asked. I'd explained bits of the game to her when I'd asked her to build the nets, mostly so she would understand what it was that I wanted.

I nodded. "They're actually doing pretty well for their first time playing," I added. "I'm impressed."

"They seem like they're having fun," Skye said. "Who would have thought kicking a ball around on the ground could be so interesting."

I laughed. As fun as I was sure quidditch was, it was extremely complicated, with so many moving parts. "Sometimes there's beauty in simplicity," I said.

When we reached the end of the hour, my students complained that they didn't want to stop playing.

"But Professor Harris," Sarah Clarke complained. "We're tied. We have to see who wins."

"I'm sorry, but our time is over," I said, disappointed that I had to put an end to the game, but also happy that the students had enjoyed it so much. "You have a class to get to. Transfiguration, isn't it? You don't want to keep Professor Tonks waiting."

There was a collective sigh as the third years began to put their outer robes back on – they'd taken them off towards the beginning of the game after quickly discovering that it was difficult to run with fabric flapping around their feet.

"Can we play again on Wednesday?" Kelsey Wickman asked hopefully.

I shook my head. "Sorry," I said. "But we can't spend all our lessons like this. Sometimes we have to learn."

"But we were learning!" Sarah Clarke protested. "This was way more educational than just learning the theory of the sport. Now I really feel like I understand it."

"I'll tell you what," I said, looking to Skye and hoping that she would be on board with my plan. "For now, we'll leave the football nets up, and I'm going to give the football to Madam Volant. If anyone wants to play during free time, just pop down to the quidditch pitch to get the football and you're more than welcome to use the field."

Skye nodded her consent. "I'll leave the football in the broom shed with the quidditch supplies," she informed the students. "It'll be there for the borrowing."

"Just keep in mind we only have the one, so be responsible with it," I added.

The students all nodded seriously and I trusted that they wouldn't lose or steal the ball.

I didn't have any more classes that morning, so I waited with Skye as we ensured that the third years all returned to the castle and began to head towards their next class, and then joined her as she headed down to the quidditch pitch to stow the football in the broom shed.

"That was some lesson," she commented.

"I believe in an experiential approach," I declared. "Isn't the whole point of muggle studies to understand muggle life? What better way than to experience it?"

Skye nodded. "It's definitely a different approach than we'd had before. Professor Carborough never did anything like that."

I scoffed. "I bet Professor Carborough didn't even know how to play football."

Skye laughed. "You're probably right about that," she agreed.

I had one more class that day: fifth years during fifth period. We were supposed to have a lesson about geothermal heating systems, but before I could even start the lesson, Kate Sparks was inquiring about my morning lesson with the third years.

"Do we get to play football too?" she asked hopefully.

Sadly, I shook my head. "I'm sorry," I said. "But you've already covered muggle sports with Professor Carborough and I need to teach you about energy sources to prepare you for your O.W.L.s." I did wish I had the time to spare to take them down to the football field, but there was too much material to cover.

"But Professor Carborough never let us actually play," Philip Longman insisted. "He just gave us a list of rules to memorize."

"I promise I'll try to think of some fun things that we can do this year that are related to the topics you're learning," I said. "But we don't have time to go back over topics you've already learned."

I meant it too. After the success I'd had with my third years that morning, I was determined to keep coming up with creative lessons for all my students. Though lectures and book learning were essential components of most any subject, including the one I was teaching, I wanted that practical component there too. The best way to get my students to appreciate muggle culture was to experience it. There was no substitute for immersive learning.

After my fifth years, I didn't have any more classes to teach until the following day, but I did have a decent amount of work to get done, so I remained in my office throughout sixth period, grading essays that my seventh years had written about Buddhism. Even after sixth period was over, I continued to grade, hoping that I could return the essays the following afternoon since they were going to be handing in another round of assignments, this time about Jainism. I was nearing the end of the pile when Alex knocked on the doorframe.

"Hey," he said. "It's almost time for dinner. Don't forget you're supervising tonight."

"Right," I muttered, checking the time and noting that I wasn't going to be able to finish all the essays before dinner. I would have to leave the remaining few for the following morning. It wasn't as though I had any morning classes, so I'd have plenty of time then. "Yeah, coming."

I tidied my desk up just a bit and then followed Alex out into the hall, glad that he'd stopped by. If not, I might have completely lost track of time and missed my dinner shift, which I knew Tessa would have tried to use against me. Even though things had been running smoothly of late, I still got the feeling that she didn't want me around and that she was just waiting for me to slip up.

"I heard about your lesson this morning," Alex commented as we made our way towards the Grand Staircase. "Unfortunately, I was teaching, so I couldn't come out and watch."

"It went even better than I'd expected," I said enthusiastically. "They really seemed to enjoy it."

"I'd have to agree with that," he nodded. "I mean, if this afternoon is any indication – "

"This afternoon?" I frowned, confused. What had happened this afternoon?

"You haven't heard?" he asked in surprise. When I shook my head to indicate that I didn't know what he was talking about, he quickly changed our direction and led me down another corridor and to the end, where he pushed open a window. "Look!" he said, pointing towards the grounds.

We were on the side of the castle that overlooked the makeshift football field I'd created. We were up on the third floor, so I couldn't see what was going on in any great detail, but from what I could make out, there were at least a couple dozen students down below, some on the field kicking the ball around, and some on the sidelines cheering them on.

"What – ?" I could hardly believe what I was seeing. "Are those – ?"

Alex nodded. There were a couple of third years, some fourth years, even some fifth years all playing together. The game was sloppy, and I saw about ten different fouls occur in the few moments that I watched from above, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that there were witch and wizard teenagers down there playing football and having fun. They weren't using their wands, they weren't flying on brooms, they weren't dodging flying balls of death like on the quidditch pitch, and yet they were having fun.

"I can't believe it," I said. When I'd left the foot ball in Skye's possession, I'd figured a small group of third years might borrow it a few times until they got bored. I hadn't imagined such a large-scale event taking place, and I hadn't imagined so many students of different years participating. There were even students down there that weren't in any of my classes.

"You're really making a difference," Alex commented, pulling me away from the window and leading me back in the direction we'd come. We still had to get to the Great Hall before dinner started.

"I guess I am," I agreed.


	25. In the Teacher's Lounge

Chapter 25: In the Teacher's Lounge

Third period on Wednesday found me laying down on the couch in the teacher's lounge and staring up at the ceiling while Alex sat in a nearby armchair. Wednesdays were my longest day of the week. I'd started first thing in the morning with a breakfast shift in the Great Hall. Immediately after I'd had two back to back classes. I still had to supervise lunch and teach another class afterward, and then on top of it all I had night patrol. And I was already exhausted.

"So, what do muggles do on work breaks?" Alex asked casually after a few minutes of silence. It wasn't that it was an uncomfortable silence. In fact, over the past weeks we'd grown very accustomed to just hanging out in the lounge, sometimes speaking and sometimes not. If anything, he sounded more curious than desperate for activity.

"Nothing exciting," I assured him. "Scroll through Facebook, maybe watch a YouTube video or post something on Twitter or Instagram."

"You realize I don't know what any of those words mean, right?" Alex asked.

I laughed. "Don't worry about it, you're not missing anything," I assured him.

"Are you?" Alex asked. "Do you wish you still had those things? The face-tube and the insta-book and all of it?"

I had to bite my lip to avoid laughing and calling Alex an old man, but it was hard. He sounded like my grandfather when he tried to talk about social media.

"I honestly don't," I replied. I'd missed them at first. When I'd first come to the castle, I constantly found myself reaching for a phone that wasn't there, itching to see what pictures people were posting and what they were doing. But the longer I stayed away, the less it seemed to matter. And in a place like this, we hardly needed to stay connected through technology. I saw Alex and my other friends every day. I already knew everything that was going on in their lives, because I was a part of it. It was better this way even. I felt more connected here than I ever did back in the non-magical world, which was ironic given that I hadn't spoken to my family or any of my old friends in months.

"What do you miss?" Alex wondered. "If there was one thing you could have back, what would it be?"

I considered the question for a moment. I'd been a student all my life. When I'd finished secondary school, it had been straight to university from there. I certainly didn't miss that. I actually liked being a teacher and being in a position of authority. And I liked having colleagues who were my friends and the fact that I was contributing something to the world. Apart from the lack of technology, I had all the comforts and luxuries I could dream of. I had lovely quarters, much larger than one person needed really. The food here was delicious and my schedule was reasonable. I'd never been someone who'd spent large amounts of time going places like bars or clubs, and I actually quite enjoyed the social situation I'd found myself in here.

"I guess I miss cooking," I finally said. It was one thing I'd always loved to do that there was no need for here. "And baking," I added.

"Really?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Sure," I confirmed. I'd started baking alone when I was twelve, and had started cooking proper meals unsupervised not long after that. Being in the kitchen was calming in a way that many other activities weren't. And I liked being able to throw a bunch of things together that would have been disgusting on their own, and turning them into something delicious. "I mean, it's not like I need to cook here, since the house elves take care of all that."

Alex hummed but didn't say much else. After another few minutes, there was a tentative knock on the door. It had to be a student, since a teacher wouldn't knock, and Alex stood to go and see who it was. I stayed put, comfortable where I was, but popped an eye open to see if the knock had been for me.

When he opened the door, I could just barely see the figure of a boy, probably fifth or sixth year, waiting in the hall. I didn't recognize him, and so I immediately shut my eyes again, deciding that he wasn't here for me.

"Kevin," Alex said, identifying the student. "Can I help you?"

"Professor Campbell," the boy said, sounding relieved. "I was hoping you'd be here. I tried your office, but it was locked and you weren't in your classroom – "

"Slow down," Alex insisted. "What did you need me for?"

"It's the homework you assigned us last week," he said. "I've been working on it, but I just can't figure it out – "

"I have office hours this afternoon," Alex cut the student off. "You're more than welcome to come and talk to me then, but right now I'm on my break."

"Please, Professor," the student, Kevin, pleaded. "This assignment is due tomorrow, and I have other assignments piling up too – "

"Perhaps you need to work on your time management," Alex suggested harshly. "It's hardly my fault that you've left your homework until the last minute. Come to my office after last period, and we can go over the lesson again."

"But Professor," Kevin continued to plead. "Please, if there's any way we could look at it now. It's just – well it's my girlfriend's birthday today and we have something planned for this afternoon."

I could hear Alex's sigh from across the room.

"Katie, I'll catch up with you later," he called out to me.

I smiled as I heard the door shut. Alex had such a big heart. It was one of the things that drew me to him. When I'd first met him, he'd been so eager to help me to feel comfortable here and to settle in. And even though I knew he'd rather have spent the remainder of his free period relaxing in the lounge with me, he'd elected instead to help his student out with his assignment.

I snuggled further into the couch, determined to enjoy a short nap before I had to get up and go supervise lunch. Even though I only had one more class to teach later, I had lots of assignments to grade and I didn't want to fall behind.

The door to the lounge opened and voices drifted through as two of my colleagues entered the lounge. I recognized their voices immediately as those of Tessa and Hannah. Neither of them acknowledged my presence as they walked towards the other end of the room, still in deep conversation.

"I just hope this new fad ends soon," Tessa said. "Ravenclaw play in the first quidditch game of the season, and it's only a month away."

"I know Hufflepuff don't play until December," Hannah spoke. "But they still have to be prepared. Any time wasted will have an impact."

"I mean, I'm not saying the lesson doesn't have its merits," Tessa continued. Remaining still, I tried to figure out what the two women were talking about but found it difficult, not having heard the beginning of their conversation. "But it should have been limited to class time."

"I agree," Hannah said. "There's a time and a place for everything. And the point of the class isn't supposed to be assimilation, it's supposed to be an academic study. Quidditch is our sport, not this football nonsense."

Realizing they were talking about me, I willed myself to become invisible. That they hadn't seen me yet didn't mean they wouldn't eventually notice me and it would be so bad if they found out I'd been eavesdropping. I shut my eyes then, hoping that if they did come to notice that I was lying on the couch, they would think I'd been asleep and that that was why I hadn't made my presence known.

I caught half my quidditch team kicking around that muggle ball yesterday," Tessa said. "They could have been practicing quidditch, and instead they were running around playing a muggle sport."

"It's just not natural," Hannah agreed. "We don't go into muggle schools trying to get muggle students to play quidditch. At this rate, the students aren't going to be able to tell the difference between muggle and magical culture!"

I clenched my teeth. How dare they sit there and disparage my teaching style? I'd been brought in to do a job: to teach the students who'd elected to take my class about muggle culture to the best of my ability. I wasn't trying to erase magical culture, just expose them to something different.

"I think I preferred Carborough's approach," Tessa said. "A theoretical education is sufficient. Witches and wizards don't need to _be_ muggles, they just need to know enough to blend in every now and then."

"Exactly," Hannah agreed. "It's muggle _studies_, not _how to be a muggle_. She's crossing the line between education and acculturation."

"I assume you've heard about that ridiculous wand ban she's instituted in her classroom? My students were not happy about that," Tessa said.

"Oh, I heard," Hannah agreed. "I've even had second years saying that they don't want to take the class next year if it means handing over their wands."

"Well, hopefully she won't be here next year," Tessa said then.

"Oh?" Hannah asked curiously.

There was a pause, and when Tessa spoke next, her voice was hushed. "You can't say anything to Neville, alright?" she insisted. There was another pause, where I assumed Hannah nodded her assent. "Well I've been working on a case against her with the help of a couple of my star students. You remember what happened with Donnor Dalman back during the first week of term? Well there's no way he was going to follow her rules and stay in that class. But I convinced him that he could be more beneficial as my eyes on the inside."

"What's he found out?" Hannah asked, her tone clearly indicating that her interest had been piqued.

"Not much yet," Tessa replied. "Just small things. But I have all year. And if this football thing is any indication, she's just going to keep trying to change things. And eventually, she'll do just the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time and I'll be there to pounce."

"Good," Hannah said. "She doesn't belong here. It's not that I don't have an appreciation for her kind. I know many lovely muggles, but none of them are trying to pretend they fit into the magical world. Having her teaching here, changing the way things are done, it's just not right. I don't' know what Silas was thinking when he hired her."

"What does Neville think?" Tessa asked.

Hannah scoffed. "We don't discuss it much," she said reluctantly. "He thinks its very important that we not blur the lines between husband/wife conversations and teacher/deputy headmaster conversations."

"Well if we could get him on our side, it would mean a lot when I finally go to Silas," Tessa said. "You should work on that."

"I will," Hannah agreed. "And I'll start with pointing out how distracting that football field is. He may not care about it distracting his quidditch team, but he'll sure as hell care when I point out that it's distracting students from their studies. I might even give a few of my students lower grades on their next assignment. Just the ones that have been spending a lot of time playing the muggle sport. So that it seems more believable."

"Good plan," Tessa agreed. "Come on, we should get going. Lunch is soon and you have to supervise.

I stayed completely immobile as the two women stood and made their way to the door. It wasn't until I heard it firmly shut back into place that I let out the breath that I'd been holding and sat up.

So, Tessa and Hannah were out to get me. I'd always known Tessa disliked me. And though Hannah had been friendly at first, there had always been a wall between the two of us. Now I knew what it was.

It was completely outrageous that they thought I was trying to assimilate my students. I didn't' expect them to become muggles, I just wanted them to feel what it was like a little bit. From my conversations with Headmaster Slinkhard and the instructions he'd given me, the whole point of my class was to immerse the students in muggle culture as much as possible so that if they ever found themselves in the muggle world, they could blend in seamlessly.

It was hardly my fault if members of the quidditch teams were interested in playing a little bit of football in their free time. It made sense, in fact, given that they were athletes and football was a sport. It certainly hadn't been my plan to leave the football field intact beyond the one class I'd used it for my lesson, but the students had insisted.

And I was furious to find out the truth about Tessa and Donnor Dalman. I'd thought that I'd gotten through to him. I thought that he'd reluctantly accepted my rules and decided to respect me, but all this time he'd just been spying on me for Tessa. I couldn't do anything about it right now, but I wasn't going to let it go. I was going to find some way to get back at them both for this.

Mostly though, I just felt like crap. Every time I'd started to feel like I was fitting in, like I was doing good and making a positive difference at this school, someone came around and cut me down. Sure, Tessa and Hannah hadn't known I was listening, but that only made things so much worse.

What if it wasn't worth it? What if the wizarding world just wasn't ready for me and my muggle customs? I'd thought I was helping to create a new generation of witches and wizards that were more connected to the muggle world, to bridge the gap between the magical and non-magical communities, despite the International Statute of Secrecy. But if Hannah and Tessa would rather hide behind their laws and distance themselves from the wider non-magical world, then maybe I shouldn't be wasting my time. Maybe I should quit trying to be creative and just teach a straightforward curriculum until the end of the year, and then go back to my life like it had never happened.

I'd had such a vision for this course. I'd put so much effort into making my classes interactive and fun and interesting. And after the response to my football lesson, I'd been so encouraged to see my students enjoying themselves so much. Now I was doubting myself. Was I fooling myself to think that any of this had been a good idea?


	26. Gryffindor Vandals

Chapter 26: Gryffindor Vandals

Alex and I ignored Mr. Clarke's designated separate routes that night in favor of combining the two so we could walk together. Over the course of the afternoon, the hurt and defeat that I'd felt had turned to anger. I'd been trying so hard to do my job well, and I was. Headmaster Slinkhard had supported me in everything I'd done thus far, the wand ban included. As far as I knew, Tessa, Hannah, and Donnor Dalman were the only ones with outright problems with me. Even Andromeda Tonks, the Head of Slytherin house, seemed fine with my presence here and my teaching style.

"You just have to ignore them," Alex counselled me. "I don't care what they said, they're not going to change the Headmaster's mind about you unless you give him a reason to question you."

"But what if I do?" I insisted. "I don't know this world. I don't know where the line between acceptable and unacceptable is. What if I cross it?"

"I'll warn you," Alex assured me.

I shook my head. "That's nice and all, but you're not necessarily going to be around every time I make a decision, and I can't be running every decision I make by you."

"Just trust your instincts," Alex said. "They've been working fine until now. Besides, I don't think there's much you could or would do that would cross any real lines."

"I guess," I muttered. It wasn't the most comforting, but his words helped a little. "I still need to do something about Donnor Dalman."

"What are you going to do?" Alex asked. "You can't give him detention because you overheard Tessa saying he was spying on you."

"Well I can't just pretend I don't know what he's up to!" I protested. "I should kick him out of my class!"

Alex shook his head. "That would be just the ammunition Tessa would need to make a stink. Unless he actually does something, he has just as much a right to be in that class as anybody else."

As usual, Alex was right. He was being much more level-headed than me. Then again, nobody was threatening his job at the moment.

"I can't just go back to teaching him like nothing's changed," I insisted.

"Nothing has changed," Alex reminded me. "Apart from your knowledge about the situation."

We rounded a corner and came across a patch of wall that had been covered in graffiti. The writing was in red, and there was a large Gryffindor lion painted next to the words _Ravenclaw sucks_. I sighed. It seemed that I was coming across graffiti like this more and more during my patrols. Mr. Clarke said it was a common occurrence given the upcoming opening of the quidditch season with the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match.

I got out my little notebook that I carried around and began to make note of exactly where we were so that Mr. Clarke could come and clean it up later tonight when Alex took out his wand and waved it at the wall causing the graffiti to vanish, as if it was being soaked up by the stone of the wall.

I grumbled to myself as I scratched out the notes I'd made. Of course Alex could take care of these things easily. I was probably the only teacher here who had to make a thorough report every night of places Mr. Clarke should investigate. All the other teachers were perfectly capable of handling anything they came across themselves.

"The vandals may still be out and about," Alex said. "We should split up and search the rest of the floor in case they're hiding out nearby."

I nodded my assent and we split up, each going a different direction with plans to meet back here in fifteen minutes. I didn't know how much use I would be. If a student were, say, invisible or something, I would have no way of detecting that. Not that I knew if invisibility was even possible in the wizarding world, but it seemed plausible given everything else I'd witnessed thus far.

As I poked my head through the doorway of a classroom, I heard movement from inside. I called out to see if anyone was there, but if there was, they weren't letting their presence be known. Tentatively, I moved further into the room, checking under desks for anyone that might be trying to hide.

"Go!" a voice cried from behind me. "It's the muggle!"

I whirled around and all I saw was a flash of movement before the door of the classroom slammed shut. I raced over to the door to pull it open only to discover that it was locked. Furiously, I started banging on the door, screaming for whoever was on the other side to open it. But the students were long gone and Alex was on the other side of the castle right now, searching the rest of the floor.

Realizing it was no use, I stopped my banging and started to examine the lock, trying to figure out if I could pick it. I did have a bobby pin in my hair, so I pulled it out and bent it, poking it into the keyhole. As I did so, a zap of magical energy pulsed out of the lock and pushed me backwards and into a grouping of desks. I landed hard and I winced as the corner of one of the desks banged into my side. I was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Angrily, I threw the bobby pin at the door and it clattered unsatisfactorily to the ground. It was obvious that the door could only be opened by magic, and I didn't have any. Frustrated, I sat down and dropped my head into my hands, trying to figure out what to do.

Alex would eventually come looking for me when I didn't meet back up with him. I just had to wait until I heard him yelling for me and then I could call out and he'd be able to let me out of this classroom. It wasn't completely the end of the world.

What annoyed me the most was how easy it had been for those students to get the drop on me. The words of the one student still rang out in my head. _Go! It's the muggle_. Knowing that I didn't have magic, they'd known that they could take advantage of me. I remembered Tessa's comments from the first time we'd had night patrol together, about how I shouldn't be permitted to do patrols because I wouldn't have the abilities necessary to control any misbehaving students. Maybe she was right. Whoever these students had been, they'd gotten away. I hadn't even had a chance to identify them.

It was another twenty minutes before I heard Alex's voice calling my name. I ran up to the door and called out, telling him I was locked in and that he needed to use magic to get me out. Once he knew where I was, it took him all of five seconds to cast the spell that released the door latch, and the door flew open, giving me my freedom.

"What happened?" he asked in confusion.

I sighed and explained how I'd come into the room to search for the miscreants only to have them get the best of me.

"You didn't notice any identifying features?" he inquired.

I shook my head. "I mean, I assume it was the Gryffindors who vandalised the wall," I said. "But they weren't wearing their robes or ties, so I couldn't even confirm house colors."

"They're not going to get away with this," Alex said angrily.

"They already did," I muttered.

Though I'd been angry at first, now I was just dejected. I didn't even blame the students for what they'd done. If I'd been in their position, I'd have done the same thing. They were just trying to keep themselves out of trouble. I was mostly upset with myself, that I was so helpless. This just reinforced how completely out of my depth I was here. If I'd been any other teacher, those students would have been rounded up and would all be facing detentions.

"We have to do something," Alex insisted. "We can take points from Gryffindor."

"We don't even know for sure they were Gryffindors," I pointed out. "We can't take points on a guess."

"Then we take points from all the houses," Alex said.

I couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "Well we definitely can't do that," I said. "Besides, it wouldn't really do anything in the long run. The houses maintain the same point differences between them. It would be a complete waste of time."

As Alex continued to search for a way to make this better, I felt my resolve set in. As much as I appreciated what Alex was trying to do, there was nothing that could be done. It was no use pretending that I wasn't a muggle, because I was one. And sure, it gave me some advantages, but it also gave me a lot of disadvantages.

"Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to patrol at night," I said then. "If I can't handle the students that are breaking curfew."

"Nonsense," Alex scoffed. "You've handled other instances of broken curfew. Look, any teacher could have lost them. Even just the extra seconds it would've taken me to unlock that door could have cost me the ability to catch them. Students can be slippery, and nobody expects you to be a god. You may be a muggle, but we're all human."

I sighed, and was again reminded of just how much I appreciated Alex. He always knew what to say to make me feel better when I was growing discouraged.

"You're a great teacher," he insisted. "Your students love your classes; they say so all the time."

"They do?" I asked in surprise. Nobody had ever mentioned what my students said about my class when I wasn't around.

Alex nodded. "I don't have all your students in my classes," he said. "But I have enough of them to know that yours is one of their favorites. I have students that are jealous of their friends for having chosen muggle studies as an elective."

"But Hannah said there were a bunch of second years who didn't want to take my class next year because of the wand ban," I insisted.

Alex shrugged. "Maybe," he allowed. "But there's just as many that don't care. And you can't expect everyone to choose your class as an elective anyway. There are four elective courses and only two elective slots in the schedules."

I nodded. Alex was right. I couldn't expect complete popularity, with the students or amongst my colleagues. I had to be content knowing that there were a large number of students that enjoyed, and even looked forward to my classes, and that the Headmaster thought I was going a good job. Hannah and Tessa were just teachers. It didn't matter what they thought about my teaching style.

And as for the patrolling, Alex was right about that too. I had to stop berating myself for things I couldn't control. Not having magic put me at a disadvantage in certain situations, but there were other times that it was actually an advantage. In the classroom, for example. My fifth and seventh students were sure to be better prepared for their Ministry exams than any fifth- or seventh-year class before me, and for life beyond this castle. _That_ was what I was doing here. I had to trust in that and stop doubting myself all the time.

"Thank you," I said to Alex.

"Of course," Alex returned. "And for what it's worth, I'm really glad you're here."

I smiled and glanced down for a moment to gather myself before looking back at Alex.

"Me too," I said, swallowing thickly as I became suddenly very aware of my breathing.

Alex wasn't that far away. We were completely alone, and he was looking at me with a look that made me excited and nervous all at the same time. My breathing picked up as he refused to break eye contact and my heartrate picked up as well.

I felt like I was glued to the spot, unable to move and just completely focused on Alex. And then he took a step closer, something shifting in his eyes as he went from looking at me like I was someone he really liked to someone he really wanted.

My body moved as if of its own accord, gliding forward to meet Alex in the middle. He was so close now, so close that another step would have us touching. We both stopped and my breathing stopped as I waited for him to make the first move. In that moment, I didn't feel like a muggle anymore. I didn't feel other, or alien, or out of place at all. I felt like I was right where I belonged.

"What do you think you're doing?" a deep voice called out.

The spell was broken, and in panic I spun around to find Mr. Clarke lumbering towards us.

"We weren't – that's to say we were just – there were these kids and – "

I stammered terribly and felt my face heat up in shame at being caught in such a position when we were supposed to be patrolling the corridors.

"You're supposed to be in the dungeons," Mr. Clarke pointed at Alex. "I don't make up these patrol routes for nothing you know."

"Sorry," Alex said sheepishly. "I'll head down there right away. I was just giving Katie some pointers."

"Hmph," Mr. Clarke grumbled. "Pointers." He glared at us both with something akin to exasperation.

Alex gave me one last apologetic look before he turned and headed in the direction of the staircase to get started on his own rounds. Mr. Clarke waited until he was sure Alex was gone before nodding gruffly at me and beginning to lumber away.

"Wait!" I called out after the night patrolman. "You should know, there were some vandals up here not long ago. I tried to chase after them, but they got away. I think they were Gryffindors, and they might still be out and about."

Mr. Clarke nodded stiffly. "I'll keep a lookout," he assured me.

I thanked him, and as he disappeared again, I consulted my own patrol route and began walking it once more. The whole time, I couldn't get Alex out of my head. He'd been about to kiss me; I was sure of it. I'd started to wonder, after all these weeks, whether perhaps he wasn't interested in me after all, given that he hadn't made a move. But now I knew. There was something there and it was undeniable. I felt myself grow excited as I anticipated our next encounter.

The rest of the patrol was uneventful and when I returned to Mr. Clarke's office, he informed me that Alex had already turned in his report and gone to bed. Disappointed that I wouldn't get the chance to talk to him again tonight, I returned to my own quarters and stretched out on my bed, exhausted but happy, and looking forward to the good dreams I was sure to have.


	27. Diagon Alley

Chapter 27: Diagon Alley

It was a relief to have the day off the following day. After the emotional roller coaster of the previous day, all I wanted was just to relax and collect myself in preparation for my Friday classes, which would include the seventh years as well as seeing Alex again. The house elves kept my quarters well stocked with various kinds of food, so there was no need to venture down to the Great Hall for my meals, and I had a stack of papers to grade for my sixth-year class on the topic of vaccinations.

Around midafternoon, there was a knock at my door and I startled just a little bit as I tried to imagine who it could be. What if it was Alex, come to revisit what had almost happened last night? And if it was Alex, how were we supposed to act around each other? The moment had been lost as soon as Mr. Clarke had interrupted, which left us in an awkward position now of having almost kissed, but also having not done it. Was I supposed to take the initiative now, or was he? Were we supposed to acknowledge what had almost happened, or pretend it hadn't?

Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about any of that at the moment, because the person on their other side of the door wasn't Alex, but Skye.

"Hey," I said, letting her in. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"I actually came to say the opposite," Skye returned. "You weren't at breakfast or lunch."

"It's my day off," I shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're usually still out and about on Thursdays," Skye reminded me.

She was right. Even though I didn't have to be anywhere specific on Thursdays, I usually still took my meals in the Great Hall and spent time with my friends throughout the castle.

"I just needed a day to myself," I replied evasively.

"Because of Tessa and Hannah?" Skye asked directly. She'd never been one for subtlety. "Alex told me all about it."

"What else did he tell you?" I asked warily.

Skye frowned. "Just that you overheard them talking in the teacher's lounge and that you were upset by some of the things they said. Was there something else?"

"No, of course not," I shook my head, pushing thoughts of last night from my mind. If I was thinking about it, Skye would pick up on it. "Anyway, it's not a big deal. I'm over it."

"Is that why you're hiding our in your rooms?" Skye asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed. "I'm not hiding," I insisted. "I'm just… relaxing."

"Well you're done relaxing for the day," Skye declared with a very noticeable change of tone. "Because we are going out on an errand."

The change of pace caught me off guard. "An errand?" I asked, wondering why Skye needed me. "You mean in Hogsmeade?"

"Not today," Skye informed me. "This errand requires a trip into the city."

"To London?" I said in surprise.

"Diagon Alley," Skye clarified. "It's the wizarding district. I have a quick meeting with a few quidditch scouts to discuss the possibility of having them come to a few matches this year."

"Why do you need me for a meeting with quidditch scouts?" I asked in confusion. It seemed like the kind of meeting Skye could handle on her own.

"I don't," she admitted. "But once the meeting is over, it'll just be you and me, out on the town."

"I don't know," I said hesitantly. I'd never been much of a partier, but Skye seemed really excited about taking me out. "I have to supervise breakfast in the morning."

"Don't worry, I'll have you back in plenty of time," Skye assured me. "Come on, please? Cam and Alex never want to go out with me. Besides, you look like you need to get out of this place for a bit."

Skye did have a point. The castle walls were starting to become a bit stifling, and as much as I liked it here, a change of scenery would do me good. Hogsmeade village was fine now and then, but I missed the busier atmosphere of being in the city.

"Alright," I agreed. "Let's go."

We had to walk down to Hogsmeade village first. Skye said it had something to do with the anti-apparition wards around Hogwarts. Since she was the one that knew how to teleport, I didn't question it and instead just walked with her until she deemed us far enough away. Then, at her request, I grabbed her arm and for the second time was sucked into a void where I was tossed and turned and compressed and stretched until I was finally spat out, still holding onto Skye, landing in some sort of restaurant or pub.

"Does it feel the same for you?" I wondered curiously as I regained my bearings. I hadn't actually fallen over this time, for which I was grateful, but I still felt like I might throw up at any given moment.

"I don't know," Skye replied. "What does it feel like for you?"

I considered for a moment. "Kind of like I've been tossed in a blender or a food processor, except that instead of blades cutting me up, I'm just being bounced around," I surmised.

Skye shrugged. "Yeah that sounds about right," she nodded.

I looked at her aghast. "And yet you still do it regularly?"

I didn't care how convenient this teleporting thing was, but I couldn't imagine travelling like that all the time.

"You get used to it," Skye assured me. "You'll see."

I decided not to comment on the implication that I'd be apparating more often in the future and instead attempted to properly take in my surroundings. The pub we were in wasn't too busy, but then again it was still mid-afternoon. The staff looked like they were gearing up for the dinner rush. The bartender was folding napkins on the side of the bar and a waitress was going around and cleaning the salt and pepper shakers on all the tables.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"It's called the Leaky Cauldron," Skye replied. "We'll be meeting those quidditch scouts here, but that won't be for a few hours yet."

"Why are we so early?" I wondered.

Skye smirked. "So, I can show you around, of course."

She led me towards a back room. I asked if we had permission to be back here, but she assured me that we did. The room was small and didn't have anything in it besides a couple of barrels in the corner. I was confused at first, but then Skye tapped her wand against the bricks of the wall opposite us, and the wall suddenly began to open up, the bricks peeling back and revealing a bustling street filled with noise and activity.

"Diagon Alley," Skye said almost proudly, a smile plastered across her face. "If you thought you'd seen true magic at Hogwarts, you were wrong. Get ready to be wowed."

The alley was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Numerous shops lined the street with fantastic window displays, and travelling vendors were scattered throughout the pedestrian walkway, selling various things and calling out, trying to get the attention of passing shoppers. Music was playing, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It didn't seem to have a source, but rather it felt like it was just surrounding us on all sides. Owls swooped overhead, flying in all different directions, and the whole atmosphere was very whimsical and fun.

We passed many colorful shops. There was a sweet shop and a joke shop, both of which were the most brightly decorated in the alley. There was a pet shop from which all sorts of noises were coming. There were numerous bookshops and broom shops and potion shops and all sorts of other shops I couldn't even identify.

I eventually dragged Skye into a shop called Amanuensis' Quill Shop, drawn in by the beautifully displayed quills in the window display. Though I refused to let my students use quills in my class, instead insisting that they use pens and pencils as the muggles did, there was a certain allure about these quills that had drawn my attention. They must have been expensive quills, because inside the store they were all displayed in glass display cases. Many of them were brightly colored and it was to one deep purple quill that I was drawn.

"It almost looks real," I said, marvelling at the impressive dye job they must have done on it. "I can barely tell what it originally looked like."

"It is real," Skye informed me. "That's to say, it came in that color. That's a fwooper quill."

"Fwooper?" I frowned.

"It's an exotic magical bird," Skye informed me. "Their feathers make really good quills though. You should buy it if you like it that much."

"I don't have any wizarding money," I said, my shoulders sagging. I'd never made it to the currency exchange place in Hogsmeade that one time, and hadn't had a reason to spend money since then.

"You can exchange your money at Gringotts," Skye offered. "Here, I'll spot you the galleons and you can pay me back once your money's been exchanged."

I had no idea how much the quill would cost comparatively in currency that I understood, but I knew that it had to be expensive if it was being kept in a display case. Then again, it wasn't as though I'd been spending the money, I'd been earning on anything recently, so I had quite a bit of it. I decided to splurge. The fwooper quill would look really nice on my desk, and purple was my favorite color.

We went by Gringotts next, so that if there were any more purchases I wanted to make, I could use my own funds. The bank was intimidating to say the least. The goblins, as Skye informed me the creatures that ran it were, all looked at me with a look that made me feel very much like they didn't want me there.

"Don't pay them any attention," Skye muttered. "They don't even like wizards that much."

Thankfully, it was a witch and not a goblin at the exchange counter, and she was very used to dealing with muggles, as she had to handle all exchanges for the parents of muggle-born children. She very kindly helped me to understand the difference between the bronze, silver, and gold pieces as well as the comparative values in the currency I was familiar with. I realized then that the fwooper quill had been a lot more expensive than I'd thought it was and though I paid Skye back in full, I was also conscious that I had to be careful with the money I had left. I'd just spent fifty pounds on a pretty purple writing feather that I wasn't even planning on writing with.

"Come on," Skye said when we were finished at Gringotts. "There's so much more to see."

We visited the sweet shop, and I bought a couple of chocolate frogs for myself to hold onto until I had one of my intense chocolate cravings. They were cheaper here than in Hogsmeade and so I bought a few more than I normally would have. We went to the Magical Menagerie, and Skye showed me all sorts of wizarding creatures like kneazles and streelers, fire crabs and puffskeins.

When we got to the crup puppies, I felt myself melt as I looked into their adorable eyes. I asked the shopkeeper if I could hold one, but Skye cautioned me that it would be a bad idea. Apparently crups could be rather ferocious towards muggles, and these cruppies were too young to behave themselves around me. Instead, the shopkeeper let me hold a puffskein. It was soft and cuddly and burrowed right into the crook of my elbow and I nuzzled its little face happily.

After the magical menagerie, we stopped by a shop called Broomstix that specialized in selling brooms, and Skye spent a good twenty minutes drooling over the new _Silver Bullet_, which was supposedly the newest model of racing broom. Since Hogwarts received its brooms as second-hand donations from various alums, Skye had no good reason to purchase one and eventually we made our way out of the shop.

We visited a few more shops and then as suppertime came upon us, Skye led us back through the alley towards The Leaky Cauldron once more to meet up with the quidditch scouts with whom she had a meeting scheduled.


	28. The Quidditch Scouts

Chapter 28: The Quidditch Scouts

"There they are," Skye said as soon as we'd entered the pub.

She pointed to a table where there sat two wizards and a witch. I felt immediately out of place, though for once it had nothing to do with being a muggle in a magical environment. I was the muggle studies teacher. I had nothing to do with quidditch at Hogwarts and really didn't belong in this meeting. But Skye dragged me along and I followed, mainly because I didn't want to sit alone in a place I knew so little about.

"Hello everybody," Skye greeted the scouts. "May I introduce my colleague, Professor Katie Harris? She'll be joining us tonight."

The three scouts gave me smiles and nods as Skye in turn introduced me to them. The woman's name was Jane. She worked for a team called the Holyhead Harpies, which Skye explained was a team composed entirely of women. Of the three at the table, Jane seemed the least friendly towards me and I got the distinct impression that she would have preferred that I not have joined.

The man sitting next to Jane was introduced as Oliver, a scout for a team called Puddlemere United, which Skye explained was the oldest quidditch team in in British League. He seemed pleasant enough, though he was significantly older than the rest of us, likely in his forties. Across the table from Oliver sat Jordan, a scout for the Montrose Magpies, one of the most successful teams in the British League as Skye informed me. He eagerly extended his hand to shake mine upon his introduction and as I pulled an extra chair over to the table for myself, I noticed that his eyes remained on me.

"Well, shall we get started with a round of drinks?" Jordan suggested once we were seated, raising a hand to get the attention of one of the waitresses. The number of staff members had increased while Skye and I had been out shopping and there were a few of them milling about amongst the tables.

A waitress came over and everyone began to place their drink orders. Oliver ordered a glass of elf-made wine and Jane requested a hard butterbeer. Jordan then placed his order for a firewhisky, which Skye imitated. When the waitress looked to me, I felt at a loss. If I'd been ordering a drink in a muggle bar, I'd have been fine, but I didn't know what any of these wizarding drinks were.

"She'll have a firewhisky as well," Skye declared, covering for me. I sent her a questioning look and she leaned towards me and muttered under her breath. "Don't worry, you'll love it."

I figured if Skye was having one as well, then it couldn't be that bad, so I nodded to the waitress and she went off to get our drinks.

"Alright, let's talk about your students, Skye," Jane said then, getting right down to business.

"Already?" Jordan complained. "But we haven't even got our drinks yet."

Jane sent Jordan a withering look. "I for one do not want to be here all night," she said.

"There's no harm in getting business out of the way now," Oliver said diplomatically.

Taking this as a sign to go ahead, Skye began to describe the more promising of the seventh year quidditch players at Hogwarts. There were four in particular that she claimed stood out among the rest, two from Gryffindor, one from Slytherin, and one from Hufflepuff. She described them each individually, giving details about their position on their respective teams, their history with those teams, as well as their performance in classes. The scouts each had little notebooks that they produced and they made notes as Skye talked.

"Well the Holyhead Harpies might be interested in that Gryffindor chaser you mentioned," Jane said. Our drinks had arrived at this point, but I didn't touch mine right away, instead deciding to wait until the others partook in their drinks. "I'll have to check her out though. We only have two chasers in reserve this season and the manager would prefer to have a full reserve team."

"Of course," Skye agreed. She passed Jane a list of matches that Gryffindor would be playing in. "Will any of those days work for you?"

"I'll have to check my calendar," Jane replied. "I'll get back to you."

"It's too bad you haven't got any prospective keepers," Oliver spoke up. "Ever since I retired from playing and Wilson stepped up from the reserve team, we've had trouble finding a good fit. The keeper we've got now isn't all that reliable and our manager was hoping you'd have a possible candidate."

"Unfortunately, none of our keepers are in their seventh year at the moment," Skye informed him. "But there is a sixth year on the Ravenclaw team who's really dedicated. If you'd like, you could come to a match to see him play. Perhaps if your manager was willing to keep your current keeper for another year, he could be a possible hire in the future?"

"I'll have to confer with those higher up," Oliver said, taking the list of Ravenclaw's matches that Skye handed to him. "But it's possible. How long has he been playing?"

"Since his third year," Skye said. "He's excellent. He's the hardest keeper to score on between the four teams by far."

Oliver nodded his acknowledgement and slipped the list of match days into his notebook.

"And you, Jordan?" Skye asked, turning to the final scout, who'd remained silent thus far.

He looked at Skye, and then his eyes slid past her to me.

"What do you think about this Hufflepuff beater?" he inquired. "Do you think he's worth my time? The Montrose Magpies only recruit the best, after all."

"Oh," I said, surprised and caught off guard at being singled out. I hadn't intended to lend my opinion at this meeting, mainly since I had very little understanding of quidditch in general and none when it came to these players. "I don't – "

"It's only her first year with us," Skye said, jumping in to help me. "She hasn't had much of a chance to see him play yet."

Jordan shifted and then leaned forward, still focused on me.

"I imagine you've seen a couple of practices by now. So tell me, what do you think?"

I was a little uncomfortable being put on the spot, but I figured that if Skye was confident enough to talk these players up, they had to play well.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, you should come see a game. I think you'll be really impressed with – Max, was it?" I glanced at Skye for confirmation on the name and she nodded. "Right, on Max's skills."

Jordan smiled and leaned back in his chair again. "Well alright then," he smiled, still looking at me. "I guess I'll be seeing you then. When's the first match?" Skye slid him a list of the Hufflepuff games and he glanced down, looking mildly displeased at what he saw. "First game isn't until December? I don't know if I can wait that long."

I frowned, deeply confused by what was going on, but determined to help Skye in her mission to get these scouts to come and see her students play.

"You could always come watch a practice," I offered, looking to Skye for confirmation that this was possible. She shrugged and nodded, and I figured I hadn't spoken out of turn.

"Interesting," Jordan smirked. "Well perhaps, if you'd consent to joining me – "

"Oh, well that's really Skye's job," I said then as I shook my head. "I'm just the muggle studies teacher. She's the one who handles all the quidditch-related stuff."

Before Jordan could speak again, Jane spoke up. "What exactly are you doing here then, if you aren't involved in quidditch at all?"

"I invited her to come along as a chance to get out of the castle," Skye replied immediately in my defense. "We had some shopping that needed to get done, and I wasn't going to have her eat dinner by herself while the four of us met."

"Of course not," Jordan agreed with Skye. "That would have been a travesty, to deprive us of meeting the new Professor. I think I will come to visit your school. The Montrose Magpies haven't recruited from Hogwarts for many years, but I think it's time for some new blood."

"Excellent," Skye said excitedly. "I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming matches. Shall we drink?"

Skye raised her firewhisky and Jordan immediately raised his as well. Oliver too picked up his glass of wine, and Jane reluctantly raised her mug of butterbeer. Belatedly, I raised my drink as well, and after clinking our glasses together, we all took a drink.

The firewhisky burned when I swallowed it, and not just in the way that alcohol burned. It burned like I was consuming actual fire, and for a second, I worried that my throat had caught fire. As it settled in my stomach, I began to feel more comfortable, and I shifted from the stiff and slightly uptight position I'd been sitting in until now into a more relaxed pose. There was no reason to be so stressed out. Skye was with me, and these people were just quidditch scouts.

Our food arrived and as we ate, the conversation turned away from discussions of that various seventh year quidditch players at Hogwarts. Skye and the quidditch scouts all clearly knew each other – it seemed the quidditch world was all rather tight knit – and they asked about their respective teams and talked about the upcoming quidditch season.

As soon as dinner was over, Jane stood and took her leave, thanking Skye again for the information and ensuring her that she would be in touch. Of all the scouts, she'd seemed the least interested in the casual part of the meal and most eager to leave once the business was sorted out. Oliver also took his leave not long after, stating that he had a wife and children to get home to, and that he looked forward to speaking with Skye more in the future.

Finally, it was just me, Skye, and Jordan, and he looked like he was in no rush to leave anytime soon.

"So Katie," he said moving around to take Jane's vacated spot next to me and better balance the table. "Now that we've got all that quidditch talk out of the way, I want to know about you."

"About me?" I asked in surprise. "Oh, I don't think there's anything to know about me."

"Well you teach muggle studies," he commented. "How did you end up doing that?"

I was very aware of the fact that up until now, no mention of my being a muggle had been made. It wasn't that I was hiding the fact, but I also wasn't sure I wanted it known right at this moment. Skye had wandered off to the bar to get another round of drinks and I was now starting to get the feeling that the attention Jordan had been showing me all evening had been more flirtatious than I'd originally realized.

"It was all kind of unplanned, really," I said honestly. "I would have taken any job, and then this one just sort of fell into my lap."

"Hmm," Jordan hummed. "And do you enjoy teaching?"

"Most of the time," I said. "Some students are more difficult than others and some days they make my life harder than it needs to be. But other times it can be really rewarding."

Skye returned with a new round of drinks, and I immediately took a sip of my firewhisky. I was on my third glass of the stuff and was starting to develop quite the taste for it.

"So, when do the Hufflepuffs practice?" Jordan asked Skye as she sat down again. "I'm eager to come and visit the school, maybe see Katie around while I'm there?"

Skye glanced sidelong at me and I looked away uncomfortably. Now that I was aware that Jordan was flirting with me, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to give him the wrong idea or lead him on, but it was also important for Skye and the Hufflepuff player she was trying to get recruited that Jordan come and watch him play.

"Hufflepuff usually practices every Monday and Wednesday afternoon," Skye informed him. "Also Saturday mornings."

Jordan turned to me. "And would you be free any of those times to join me down on the pitch?" he asked.

"Actually, no," I said honestly. "I have office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Saturday mornings I have to patrol the halls."

"Office hours?" Jordan asked then, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe I could stop by your office sometime on my way to watch a practice."

I shook my head. "Oh, I don't think – "

"Katie, I need to go to the washroom," Skye announced them, cutting me off. "Come with me?"

"What?" I frowned and turned to look at her. She opened her eyes wide, as if she was trying to communicate something to me, and jerked her head in the direction of the bathrooms. "Yeah, alright," I allowed. I turned back towards Jordan. "We'll be right back," I assured him.

"I'll be waiting," he returned.

He took another sip of his firewhisky as Skye and I stood up and moved away from the table to the back of the restaurant. Skye stopped me before we got to the washrooms though, and pulled me into a corner.

"Okay, I don't know if you realize this, but Jordan is totally flirting with you," she informed me.

I nodded awkwardly and shrugged a little. "Yeah, I know," I muttered.

Skye grabbed me by the shoulders. "Well?" she demanded. "He's hot! Why do you keep shutting him down? You should go for it!"

"Oh, I don't think – " I tried to figure out how to explain to Skye why I didn't want to encourage Jordan's attention.

It wasn't that he wasn't nice enough, just that I wasn't exactly available. Then again, I wasn't exactly unavailable either. Technically Alex and I had only almost kissed, but nothing between us had officially happened. If I wanted to, I could flirt with Jordan a bit and see what happened. But I also didn't really want to. I also didn't want to tell Skye about Alex just yet, because I knew how she would react and I wasn't ready to play twenty questions – or rather a thousand questions – with her just yet.

"Go on," Skye encouraged me. "I'll say I have to get back to the castle, and you can stay here with Jordan for a bit."

"But I can't get back to Hogwarts alone," I pointed out. "I don't have magic."

"Don't worry, I won't go far," Skye assured me. "Unless of course you want me to." She waggled her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Skye, I have to supervise breakfast in the morning," I reminded her. "I can't stay out that late."

"Whatever," Skye muttered. "Look, just go have some fun, and I'll be back here. You can say I had to take off. And when you're ready to go, just come and find me."

I considered the offer. It wasn't as though I didn't like Jordan, and we didn't need to do anything more than talk and drink and maybe flirt a bit. Maybe I was being too uptight. Maybe what I needed was just to relax a bit and enjoy my night out. Whatever was or wasn't happening with Alex wasn't going to go away regardless.

"Yeah, alright," I agreed. "But you come back with us," I insisted. "There are tons of guys here, I'm sure there's one you can flirt with too."

"I'm with Cameron, remember?" Skye pointed out.

"So what?" I shrugged. "It's like you said, it's just for fun."

Skye considered the offer and finally agreed. "Yeah, alright," she said. "Let's have some fun."


	29. The Bouncing Bulb

Chapter 29: The Bouncing Bulb

Skye headed off towards the bar to find someone to flirt with while I made my way back to the table and Jordan. I was extremely nervous. Flirting with guys in bars wasn't something I was used to. I'd always been more of a homebody than a party girl. But after an emotionally charged two days, all I wanted was to not think about the many challenges that were facing me at work and just enjoy myself. So, returning to the table, I grabbed my partially drunk firewhisky and downed the remainder of it in one go.

"Whoa!" Jordan cried as I slammed the glass down on the table and resumed my seat. "What's got into you?"

"I'm here to have fun," I declared. The firewhisky didn't burn as much going down this time, but my throat was starting to feel numb. "Let's have another round."

"Are you sure?" Jordan asked. "You've already had three."

"Another!" I declared determinedly.

Jordan signaled a waitress and ordered me another firewhisky. He didn't get another for himself, since he still had a nearly full glass in front of him.

"Where's Skye?" Jordan asked, looking around.

"She's at the bar," I replied, gesturing in the general direction of the bar behind me.

"I see," Jordan smiled. "So, I guess now I have you all to myself, then."

"That's right," I agreed, throwing caution to the wind. I was being much more forward than I usually would be, though I suggested it had something to do with the three firewhiskys I'd consumed, the last one in particular.

"Tell me the truth," Jordan said then, scooting a bit closer to me. "You don't know anything about quidditch. You just came along for the after-dinner drinks. Am I right?"

I leaned forward just a bit, resting one elbow on the table, but turning so that I was fully facing Jordan. "It's true," I admitted. "I know almost nothing about quidditch. But I'm open to learning a thing or two."

"Maybe I could teach you sometime," Jordan offered. His hand moved down into his lap and then reached out towards my knee. "I could come by to watch the Hufflepuffs practice and then maybe afterwards I could stop by your office? You could teach me about muggle studies, I could teach you about quidditch."

I swallowed as I realized that this flirtation was starting to progress further than I'd expected it to. His hand was moving further up my leg and I knew that normally I would have already pushed it away. But my mind was a little cloudy and as a waitress dropped another firewhisky on the table for me, I decided that instead of worrying about the hand on my leg, I would start on my fourth drink.

"I bet you could teach me about more than just quidditch," I said. The words hardly felt like me own, but they were coming out of my mouth. The hand moved up a little more and I felt myself leaning even further towards Jordan.

"I have some time now," Jordan offered. "Maybe we could start our lesson tonight."

He bent his head and leaned in as if to kiss me, but before he could Skye interrupted by plopping herself down in her seat across from Jordan, dragging someone along with her.

Jordan reluctantly straightened up and we both turned to look at Skye.

"Hey guys," she said, seemingly oblivious to what she'd just interrupted. "This is Billy," she introduced the guy next to her.

"Hey Billy," I said with a small wave and a smile in his direction. Skye certainly hadn't wasted any time.

"Billy was just telling me about this club not far from here," Skye declared. "The Bouncing Bulb, was it?"

Billy nodded.

"And you want to go?" I inquired.

Skye nodded. "I thought we could all go. But only if you guys are into it."

I shrugged and glanced at Jordan. It seemed like a fun idea to me. He nodded his assent and I smiled widely.

"Yeah, alright," I agreed. "We're in."

The Bouncing Bulb was a very short walk away. We stepped back out into Diagon Alley and walked up the lane to a small doorway nestled between a book publishing shop called Obscurus Books and an apothecary, both of which were closed for the evening. In fact, most of the shops in Diagon Alley were closed at this point, though a great many people still walked up and down the Alley.

"Welcome to the wizarding world nightlife," Skye whispered into my ear as we entered the club.

I'd never been to a muggle club, but I imagined it would be much like this one. There was loud music and beams of light moving all over the room, except that there were no speakers and no spotlights directing the beams. Like the music in Diagon Alley that afternoon, this music permeated the walls of the club and it was like it was coming from every direction all at once. The beams of light moved independently, sometimes even changing into different shapes as they bounced all over the room.

There was a bar at the back of the room and booths encircling the club, and in the center was a large dance floor on which dozens of witches and wizards were currently dancing in a manner I'd never seen before. It must be some form of wizarding dance, I decided. But I figured I could copy it easily enough and manage to fit in.

Billy immediately dragged Skye onto the dance floor, leaving Jordan and I standing in the entrance of the club. I shifted nervously, having never been in this kind of atmosphere before and deciding to take my cues from Jordan.

"Do you want a drink?" he asked.

Despite the loud and almost ear-splitting music, I could hear Jordan perfectly clearly. All around us, other people were having conversations that were being totally drowned out by the music and I suspected that part of the magic was that you could hear when someone was talking to you, but nothing else.

"Sure," I agreed. I hadn't had the chance to finish my fourth firewhisky back at The Leaky Cauldron, and the effects of the third had worn off a bit when we'd gone outside to get here.

When we got to the bar, Jordan asked me what I wanted, but I balked, realizing that the only drinks I knew were the ones that had been ordered at dinner that night. I could order more firewhisky, I supposed, but I felt like now that we were in a club, I should switch to something more exciting. I just didn't know what that could be.

"Surprise me," I challenged him.

With a smirk, Jordan took me up on the challenge, ordering us each two shots of something called lobe-blasters. From the name itself, I suspected that it would sufficiently inebriate me to be able to enjoy myself without any of the usual awkwardness I tended to display in these situations.

The lobe-blaster was very different from the firewhisky. It didn't burn on the way down so much as cause little sparks to start going off in my head. At first it felt like a headache, and I was very upset at the possibility of my hangover starting before I even got properly drunk. But then the headache dissipated and I stopped thinking so much and I couldn't even remember much besides what was immediately in front of me.

"Does it pass the test?" Jordan inquired, having just taken his own shot.

"Definitely," I agreed.

I grabbed his hand, and with my best come-hither look, led him out onto the dance floor.

I don't know whether it was the magic of the club or the effect of the shot I'd taken, but I found that there was no need to concentrate on mimicking the dancing of those around me. My body began to move in time with the music, and it was like it was being controlled by the song itself rather than my consciousness. Jordan danced with me and as the music changed, I found myself pressed against him.

His hands went around me and I felt them land on my ass. He bent his head and rested his forehead against mine, and we locked eyes as we continued to dance. I couldn't have remembered where we were if I'd tried. All I knew was that I existed and that Jordan existed and beyond that the rest of the world was like the static on a television channel I didn't have access to.

Jordan moved in and kissed me, and I leaned into it, kissing him back a little sloppily, but he seemed to like it. His hands tightened around me and we continued to dance and nothing else mattered.

"Let's get out of here," Jordan said in a low voice, pulling back just a little.

I nodded eagerly, my eyes unable to see anything but Jordan. The rest of the club had become hazy and almost felt like a mirage – like it wasn't really there. The only thing that I knew for sure was real anymore was Jordan. I would go anywhere with him.

We were almost to the door when something solid wrapped around my arm and jerked me back and away from Jordan.

"What – ?" I cried out in confusion.

My head throbbed as my focus shifted from Jordan to Skye and my thoughts now refocused on her.

"Where are you going?" she asked me, her eyes flicking between me and something beyond me that I couldn't identify.

"I was – " I frowned. I tried to remember where I'd been going, but I couldn't. "I was – "

"We were just going somewhere a bit more private," a voice cut through the fog. Jordan was there again, but I was so confused. My head pounded as I tried to focus on both him and Skye at the same time, but it was too much. I reached up and grabbed at my head, pressing against it to try and relieve some of the pressure.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Skye asked.

"Nothing's wrong," Jordan insisted. "I'm not forcing her to leave with me. She wanted to."

"She has work in the morning," Skye insisted. "She knows she can't stay out too late."

I gritted my teeth as the pain in my head threatened to overwhelm me. Having both Jordan and Skye talking was too much. Every time the other would speak, it was like I was being hit in the head with a sledgehammer. And then just as it was starting to subside, and I could think again, the other would speak and it would happen all over again.

"She's a big girl," Jordan said. "She can set an alarm and get back before her first class."

"She needs to come back with me," Skye insisted, wrapping a hand around my arm. "Katie, come on, it's time to go."

I looked up at Skye and my vision tunneled so that all I could see was her and her face. I remembered then that it was important that I return to Hogwarts with her tonight. I had a breakfast shift, and I needed Skye to teleport me back to the outskirts of the castle.

Another hand wrapped around my other arm, and I was spun around. The sledgehammer smashed into my brain and I whimpered, but then my vision focused on Jordan once more and I remembered our plans to leave the club and continue the evening just the two of us.

Skye moved around me and pushed Jordan out of the way, replacing him in my line of sight. My head throbbed once more and I pulled my arms from their respective grasps and started to pull my hair. If I could match the internal pressure with some external pressure, maybe I could cancel it out.

"Okay seriously, what's wrong with her?" Skye demanded. My eyes were closed, but I could still hear the voices.

"Nothing!" Jordan exclaimed in his own defence. "I swear. We did some shots, we danced, and we kissed. That's _all_."

"Shots?" Skye asked warily. "What kind of shots."

"Just a couple of lobe-blasters," Jordan replied.

"You idiot," Skye groaned. "She's a muggle. She can't tolerate a lobe-blaster!"

The voices started to become muffled as the throbbing pain in my head became too much. I fell to the floor, but I was barely even aware of that as my brain threatened to explode out of my skull.

"She's a _muggle_?" I heard Jordan's voice demand. "Well she didn't tell me that!"

"Okay, you need to leave," Skye ordered Jordan. "If I'm going to stand any chance of getting her back, she can't be dividing her attention."

"But I – "

I didn't hear what was said next. Or perhaps Skye didn't say anything and simply scared Jordan away with a look. But then Skye was crouching down next to me and Jordan was gone and as I focused my attention on her, the rest of the club faded away and the headache subsided and her face became the only one I could see.

"Katie," she said gently. "Do you think you could stand up?"

I did as she asked, shakily getting to my feet with her help.

"Alright," Skye said encouragingly. "That's good. Okay, now just focus on me. Ignore everything else. We're going back to The Leaky Cauldron and then we're going to apparate back to Hogwarts, alright?"

I nodded. I couldn't remember much of what had happened. I knew that there'd been some time when Skye hadn't been around. But she was here now, and that was what mattered. I would do whatever she asked me to do.

"Let's go," she said.

She wrapped her hand around my arm and slowly, she began to lead me out of The Bouncing Bulb and back out onto the street.


	30. The Hospital Wing

Chapter 30: The Hospital Wing

When we got back to Hogwarts, Skye led me straight to the hospital wing.

"No," I whined. "Too many stairs. My room is on the third floor."

"I know," Skye rolled her eyes. "But tonight you need to sleep where someone can keep an eye on you."

There were no students in the hospital wing when we entered, and Skye deposited me on a bed before walking over to the door that led to Madam Eldridge's quarters and banging on it insistently.

"Martha!" she cried. "I've got a situation!"

In moments, the door opened, and Martha appeared. She was dressed for bed in a nightgown that reached all the way down to the floor, but her eyes were wide awake and she looked as alert as if it were the middle of the day.

"What's happened?" she asked, her eyes passing over the wing and landing on me. "Is something wrong with Professor Harris?"

Skye grimaced. "She might have drunk something tonight that maybe she shouldn't have," she admitted.

Martha hurried over to me, where I lay on the bed with my legs still hanging off the side, having been unable to pull them up on my own. She lit up her wand tip and flashed it in my eyes, and then did a quick spell on me that made me feel less fuzzy for about three seconds before it ended and I was back to how I'd been before.

My brain had stopped throbbing at this point, but it was becoming harder and harder to maintain consciousness. All I wanted was to go to sleep, but I fought it because Skye had told me to stay awake until Martha gave me something to drink.

"A lobe-blaster?" Martha asked, turning to Skye. "Really?"

"I'm sorry," Skye insisted. "I didn't know she'd done the shots until it was too late."

"She did more than one?" Martha's eyes widened.

"Just two," Skye assured her quickly. "Please, just fix this before the brain damage becomes permanent."

Martha hurried away and I looked up at Skye pleadingly. My eyelids were so heavy and the bed I was lying on was so comfortable.

"Can I go to sleep now?" I begged.

"In a minute," Skye promised me, reaching out to take my hand. "Just as soon as you drink the potion."

I shook my head vehemently. "No potions for me," I said. "Potions are for witches and I'm not a witch."

Skye sighed. "Fine, it's not a potion. It's just pumpkin juice."

"Blech," I said, scrunching up my face and sticking my tongue out in disgust. I knew pumpkin juice was popular amongst the wizarding community, but I hadn't acquired a taste for the stuff. Then again, pumpkin had never been my favorite thing before coming to Hogwarts anyway.

"Okay," Skye said, shaking her head. "What do you want to drink?"

I considered the question for a moment, tapping my chin with my index finger. "Chocolate milk," I finally declared.

"Great," Skye muttered. "Then just stay awake and Martha will bring you some chocolate milk to drink, and then you can go to sleep."

"Okay," I agreed readily enough, excited at the prospect of chocolate milk. I hadn't had a glass of chocolate milk in ages.

Martha hurried back with a glass full of an electric blue concoction. She tried to hand it to me, but I pushed the hand away.

"That's not chocolate milk," I informed her.

"No," Martha frowned. "It's – "

"It's chocolate milk," Skye interjected. "It just looks different because it's magical chocolate milk."

"Am I allowed to drink magical chocolate milk?" I asked suspiciously.

"Of course!" Skye assured me. "You've eaten magical chocolate before. Remember the chocolate frogs?"

Skye's logic made sense. I figured if I could eat chocolate frogs, then I could drink this magical electric blue chocolate milk as well. I took the glass from Martha and downed it in one gulp.

It was different than regular chocolate milk. In fact, it didn't taste like milk or like chocolate at all. It tasted kind of like a liquid gumdrop mixed with orange juice. But it wasn't terrible, and so I drank it anyway, handing Martha back the empty glass when I was done.

"Can I go to sleep now?" I requested, looking from Skye to Martha and back to Skye again.

"Sure," Skye nodded, grabbing my legs and moving them up onto the bed with me. It was much more comfortable that way and I was glad she'd thought to do it.

I closed my eyes and immediately everything faded to blackness.

When I awoke, I had a splitting headache and the light was so bright that I had to shield my eyes from the beams that were streaming in through all the high windows. There were screens all around my bed and as I slowly started to sit up, Martha appeared from the other side of them.

"Good, you're awake," she said as she bustled about. "You've missed breakfast and some of first period, but it seems you'll be able to make it in time to teach your sixth-year class and there will be no need to cancel it."

"I missed breakfast?" I asked in dismay. "But I was supposed to supervise."

"Madam Volant took care of that for you," Martha assured me. "Now before you go, I'd like to have a word with you."

I nodded, and sat up, pushing the blankets off of myself and swinging my legs over the bed so that I was sitting up and not lying in a hospital bed like an invalid.

"Alright," I agreed, trying to look as dignified as I could manage despite my rumpled clothes, mussed hair, and of course the shame of having woken up in the hospital wing because I'd partied too hard.

Martha pulled up a chair and sat down in front of me.

"Professor Harris – do you remember what happened last night?" she asked. My memories of the previous night were hazy, but I remembered enough to realize that I must have had too much to drink. I looked down at the floor in humiliation.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It was unprofessional. Especially on a school night." I felt like a teenager being scolded by her parents.

"Katie I'm not upset with you," Martha assured me. "Neither is the Headmaster, though he'll be having a word or two with Madam Volant later I'm sure."

"It wasn't her fault," I insisted. "I'm the one that drank too much."

"When Skye took you away from this castle, you became her responsibility," Martha disagreed. "She should have kept an eye on what you were drinking and should never have let you take those lobe-blaster shots."

I didn't like how this conversation was going one bit. Martha was treating me like a child, like one of her students. But I was an adult, a teacher. I could take responsibility for my actions.

"I'm the one that overdid it," I insisted. "I should have been keeping better track of what I was drinking. Or not had anything to drink, since I had to teach in the morning."

Martha sighed. "Katie, wizarding drinks are different from muggle drinks. Skye tells me that you started out on just firewhisky, which on its own would have certainly affected your system more than that of a witch or wizard, but would have faded eventually. But the lobe-blaster shots you took – those can have permanent damaging consequences for muggles. The part of the brain where magical ability comes from isn't active in muggles and can't counteract the effects of the lobe-blaster like it can for a witch or wizard."

"I didn't know that," I admitted sheepishly.

"Of course not," Martha agreed. "When Skye took you to that club, she should have told you what was and wasn't safe for you to drink. That she failed to do so means that the responsibility for this mess rests with her."

"But aren't I in trouble for going out and partying?" I wondered.

Martha shook her head. "You didn't have any patrols scheduled last night. Teachers are more than welcome to do what they like with their free time. It makes no difference whether you spend an evening off in your quarters, in Hogsmeade, or at The Bouncing Bulb."

"Right," I muttered. I understood where Martha was coming from, and I couldn't argue with anything she was saying, but I still felt awful about the position I'd put Skye in. If only I'd stuck to firewhisky. If only I hadn't listened when Skye told me to let loose and flirt with Jordan.

More memories began to flood my mind and I gasped as I remembered just how far I'd almost let things go with him last night. My face turned bright red and I covered it with my hand as I burned in humiliation. If Skye hadn't intervened, I had been on my way to sleep with Jordan last night. Of course, it had been the effect of the alcohol. The lobe-blaster had done something to my mind. For all intents and purposes, I'd been drugged. But I was still embarrassed.

"I should get ready for my class," I said standing up and pushing past the screens, which I realized had probably been put up to prevent any students from stumbling across my drunk ass sleeping off a night of clubbing. I appreciated the attempt at offering me some privacy.

When I got back to my room, I had half an hour available to me before I had to be presentable. I quickly jumped in the shower to wash off any remnants of last night and then dressed in the most comfortable clothes I could find. I also grabbed a croissant that was on the food table in the living room, knowing that I would need to eat something along the way.

I wasn't at all prepared to teach a proper lesson that morning, so instead I broke the room up into discussion groups and put three open-ended questions on the board for them to discuss. Then I sat at my desk with my eyes partially closed and tried to block last night out of my mind completely.

It was hard. Every time I thought I'd succeeded, I'd have a flash and suddenly Jordan's hand would be on my thigh, or his mouth would be on my mouth, or his hands would be on my ass. I shivered uncomfortably, ignoring the curious stares from my students, and at one point I had to run into my office quickly so that I could throw up in my garbage can.

I didn't have to teach third period, so once my sixth years were gone, I shut myself up in my office and held my head in my hands, rubbing my temples with my fingers. I hadn't been hungover many times, but this felt like the worst time yet. I was just thankful for whatever Martha had given me to drink last night, because I imagined it would be a hundred times worse without it.

Towards the end of the period, just before lunch, there was a knock at my door.

"What do you want?" I called out. If it was a student, there was a very good chance I would kill them for interrupting my solitary time. I had to supervise lunch soon, and after lunch I only had one hour to prepare myself before I had to teach two more classes back to back.

The door creaked open and Skye poked her head inside.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

I groaned, but nodded, dropping my head back down onto my desk. At least I didn't have to keep up appearances.

"Katie, I am so sorry," Skye said. "I should have kept a better watch on you, I – "

"Don't," I held up a hand to stop her. "I'm not mad. And I was making bad decisions way before we got to The Bouncing Bulb."

I recalled how I'd flirted with Jordan at The Leaky Cauldron; how close I'd let him get.

"But you were resisting his advances until I pushed you two together," Skye insisted, dropping into a chair opposite me. "If I hadn't told you to flirt back – "

"I was fully aware of what I was doing right up until those lobe-blasters," I assured her. "I'm the only one to blame for getting to that point."

The truth was, I didn't feel as bad about the clubbing and the getting drunk and almost permanently damaging my brain as I did about leading Jordan on. And I'd been doing that way before I'd lost the ability to reason and think for myself. Alex and I had finally been headed towards something. I should have insisted Skye bring me back to Hogwarts instead of staying out after Jane and Oliver had gone home.

"I should've kept a better eye on you," Skye lamented. "But I got distracted trying to convince Billy that I was only interested in dancing and then it was too late."

"You got me back here in one piece," I reminded Skye. "Once you realized something was wrong, you did the right thing. You couldn't have known I was going to do those shots. You encouraged me to drink firewhisky and I should have stuck to that."

"Headmaster Slinkhard disagrees," Skye said ashamedly. "He said I should have warned you about lobe-blasters if I was going to leave you alone in a club. And he was right. There aren't that many wizarding drinks that are dangerous for muggles. I could've told you what to avoid."

"Look," I said. "A lot happened last night, and we both regret things. Let's just forget about it, and next time I'll be more careful about what I drink." And about who I drink with, I added mentally.

"About that," Skye said with a grimace. "There's not going to be a next time. Headmaster Slinkhard banned me from taking you off the grounds. He said I'm not responsible enough."

"What?" I demanded. "He can't do that! I can leave the grounds whenever I please! I don't need a babysitter."

Skye shrugged. "You can," she agreed. "But you can't get much further than Hogsmeade without someone to apparate you. And I'm not allowed to do that anymore."


	31. Hangover

Chapter 31: Hangover

Lunch was like some kind of torture. I'd never realized just how loud the Great Hall was: so many students screaming and yelling. I wanted to give everyone detention, but knew somewhere deep down that that wasn't a reasonable desire.

Even worse than lunch though, was fifth period with the seventh years. After completing a survey of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the plan had been to have a discussion period comparing and contrasting eastern religions and their approaches to addressing the presence of magic in the world. I'd figured that this would be an easy enough lesson. I could let them discuss and I could relax at my desk. Unfortunately, things didn't exactly pan out how I'd imagined.

Instead of the small and quiet group discussions that I'd hoped for, within fifteen minutes the seventh years had descended into chaos, all screaming over each other to be heard and arguing vehemently with each other.

"It's obvious that they got reincarnation confused with human transfiguration," Kimberly Baddock screamed.

"That doesn't even make any sense," Anthony Gesell screamed back. "Reincarnation is about the afterlife and how your actions have consequences. If anything it's a response to a life without magic having little meaning and the need for muggles to find some kind of meaning to attribute to their lives."

"Yeah," Christina Underwood agreed. "Human transfiguration is what created all those animal gods. A transfiguration gone wrong could easily have created someone that looked part human and part elephant. A muggle wouldn't know what to do with that, so they revered it."

"Don't you think that's a little disrespectful?" Samantha Ackerly called out. "This is a belief system."

"We're just guessing at where these ideas came from," Christina replied. "Look at Christianity or Judaism for example, and all those miracles the prophets supposedly performed. Obviously they were wizards doing magic."

"I don't think it's obvious at all," Samantha argued back. "You don't know what was happening back then, none of us do. We can discuss all we want, but we don't actually _know_."

Finally, I stepped in.

"All right everyone, calm down," I insisted. "Let's not get carried away. And we're not studying the western religions until next week, so let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"It was just an example - " Christina insisted, but I cut them off.

"Regardless," I interjected. "I think that maybe this discussion is getting out of hand, so instead why don't we try something different? I want everyone to spend the next fifteen minutes writing down their thoughts on the subject, and then you can pass your papers around and read what the others have wrote. Then you can see all the different perspectives without yelling at each other."

"But isn't the whole point of discussion that we can build off each other's ideas?" Christina insisted. "How is this beneficial?"

I sighed. "If you want, you can respond by writing your thoughts relative to someone else's below their paragraph on their paper. We'll call it a silent debate. Everyone write your names on your papers and make sure you get them back at the end of the lesson so you can see what everyone else thought about your comments."

It wasn't an ideal assignment, but at least it would be a quiet one. As my students got to work, I didn't try to hide it at all as I dropped my head onto my desk and closed my eyes, desperate for just a little bit of peace.

I was awoken when a fourth year student walked up to me and roughly shook me awake.

"Professor Harris?" he asked, confused. "Aren't we having class?"

I looked up to find a class full of fourth years all sitting nicely at their desks and waiting expectantly for me to do or say something.

"Silent reading period," I muttered groggily. "Learn about the muggle postage system."

And with that, my head dropped to my desk yet again and I blearily drifted in and out of consciousness for the remainder of that last period.

I didn't think I was going to be up for hall patrol after class. Whatever Madam Eldridge had given me last night had seemed to hold off the worst of my hangover that morning, but it had been progressively wearing off all day and I now felt altogether miserable. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep until tomorrow, but I had two more hours of being responsible before I could do it.

As I was attempting to force myself out of my chair to start my patrol, Alex peeked his head around the corner of the doorway to my classroom. I immediately wished that I was a witch so that I could fade into the wall behind me or melt into a puddle on the floor. I didn't want to talk to him yet. I wasn't ready to face him after what I'd done with Jordan last night. But here he was and there was no escaping him.

"Hey," he said with a small wave.

"Hey," I responded sheepishly.

"I heard you had a rough night," he said.

Instead of responding with words, I simply nodded.

"You have patrol now, right?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"Do you want company?"

I thought about it. On the one hand, I really didn't want Alex to see me in my humiliation. On the other hand, I honestly wasn't sure I was going to make it through my patrol without help.

I nodded.

Alex waited a moment, probably expecting me to stand up and join him in the hall. When I didn't move, he laughed and walked into the room, lifting me out of the chair and helping me to my feet.

"So it's one of those days, is it?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"I just need a good night's sleep in my own bed," I said. "The hospital wing beds aren't the more comfortable."

"You should probably see Madam Eldridge after patrol," Alex counselled me then. "She can give you something for your head."

"I can just sleep it off," I insisted. "I don't know why it's persisting this long. Usually my hangovers only last until around lunchtime."

"This isn't just any hangover though," Alex reminded me. "You did lobe-blaster shots last night. Muggles aren't meant to tolerate those. Thank Merlin you only did two."

"What would have happened if I did more?" I wondered.

Alex didn't answer. Instead his face went stony.

"Let's just say I'm glad you're not allowed to go out with Skye anymore," he said in a hard voice.

I didn't say anything to this. I still didn't quite know how to feel about Skye getting punished for this. It was my fault after all. Sure Skye had taken me out, and sure I'd never have done the lobe-blasters if I hadn't gone to Diagon Alley with her in the first place, but by that logic Professor Longbottom was just as much to blame for bringing me into the wizarding world without warning me of all the dangers. It wasn't Skye's responsibility to babysit me. I was an adult for goodness sake. And I certainly didn't like that Alex thought I needed babysitting.

There was an awkward ten minutes of silence before either of us spoke again. By this time we had ascended to the sixth floor and were patrolling some less frequented corridors where troublemakers liked to gather.

"I don't usually party like that," I confessed, feeling like I needed to offer up some kind of explanation. "But it's not like I'm not allowed to let loose now and then."

"That's not what I'm upset about," Alex insisted. "You could have died."

"I - what?" I froze in place at that, my skin going cold. "What do you mean I could have died?"

"Lobe blasters are deadly to muggles," Alex informed me. "Didn't Madam Eldridge tell you that?"

I shook my head. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I remembered doing the shots with Jordan and how carefree I'd been. "She said there could have been brain damage, but..."

"So you would have been alright suffering brain damage?" Alex demanded.

"Well, I mean, people recover from comas all the time," I said, both nervous but also optimistic.

"This wouldn't have been like that," Alex said, his voice turning gentle as he took a step closer to me. "A couple more shots and you could have lost motor skills, verbal skills, memory, the ability to think and to reason. You'd be conscious, but unable to function."

I clenched my teeth and tears poked at my eyes as I thought about what Alex was saying. For some reason the gravity of the situation hadn't really hit me until now, probably because everyone had been sugarcoating things for me and not telling me the full truth, as if I couldn't handle it.

"Then what?" I asked, terrified to hear the answer, but knowing that I needed to.

"Then nothing," Alex shook his head. "If you'd done any more after that, the shots would have killed you. And it wouldn't be fast or painless. It would be a horrible and painful and terrifying way to go."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Because," Alex said. "You need to know these things. If you're going to be a part of this world, you need to know what your limits are. And they're not going to be the same as for me or for Skye. There are going to be things we can do that you can't. I want you to be safe, but in order to be safe, you need to be informed."

"I really wish Skye would have told me all this before we went out," I said, finally understanding why everyone was so upset with her. It wasn't that she didn't watch me, it was that she took me out knowing that I wasn't informed. It wasn't that I couldn't take care of myself, but that I hadn't been entrusted with the information I'd needed to be able to take care of myself.

Alex nodded, a look of relief on his face. "I'm glad you see it my way," he said. "I could have lost you last night."

He took another step forward, and suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. I was warm all over and my heart was racing for a wholly different reason.

But this wasn't how I wanted this to happen, so I backed away, shaking my head.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should probably finish my patrol alone. I'm sure you have papers to grade or something."

Alex looked disappointed, but I knew that I'd made the right decision. If we were ever going to be something, it wasn't going to be the day after I'd almost gone home with a total stranger while I was hungover from doing shots that could have killed me if I'd kept going.

"I'll see you later?" he asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow," I confirmed. "I don't think I'm going to make it to dinner tonight." Since I didn't have to supervise, my plan was to grab something from the table of food that the elves kept constantly stocked in my quarters and then pass out as soon as my patrol was over. I had to be up to supervise breakfast in the morning and I wanted to be as recovered by then as possible.

"Right," Alex nodded in understanding. "Tomorrow."

He left then, and I continued my rounds conflicted. Should I be upset with Skye? Alex was clearly mad at her, and Madam Eldridge and Headmaster Slinkhard certainly weren't impressed. But she'd seemed so apologetic earlier. She hadn't meant for what had happened to happen. And she'd gotten me to safety as soon as she realized what had happened.

I decided that I wasn't going to hold a grudge. She'd apologized and I was going to accept it. She was my friend, and she'd already been punished enough by others. She didn't need me to punish her too.


	32. The Proposal

Chapter 32: The Proposal

Even though the details of my night out with Skye and my trip to the hospital wing were meant to stay between Skye, Madam Eldridge, myself, and Headmaster Slinkhard, it seemed that within the day, every member of the staff knew of what had transpired. Alex had to have heard it from somewhere, but he wouldn't tell me where. Personally, I suspected that Neville had been told in his capacity as Deputy Headmaster, had told Hannah, and she'd let the information slip, but that was just a theory.

Either way, it took a full two weeks for me to finally start feeling like the other teachers weren't constantly talking about me when I wasn't in the room and watching me when I wasn't looking. It was uncomfortable really, and I wished they wouldn't, but I supposed I was a bit of a novelty. Surely nothing like this had happened before, because a muggle had never been employed at Hogwarts before.

But after a while, things started to go back to normal and I felt myself start to relax once again.

With the end of the month looming, something else had taken center stage: Halloween. It was the perfect opportunity to teach my students about the muggle version of the holiday.

As a part of my introduction to the wizarding world and preparation of my curriculum, I'd read up about various holidays and their roots in magical culture, and unsurprisingly, Halloween had originated in the wizarding world. Traditionally, it was the one day a year where the separation between the world of the living and the world of the dead became thin enough that someone who'd chosen to stay behind as a ghost could choose to pass on. However, it was also vey uncommon for this to occur as those who chose to stay behind usually made the decision out of fear and remained afraid of what awaited them beyond for the rest of their existence.

Though Halloween had always been celebrated at Hogwarts, it was mostly used as an opportunity to have a big feast with lots of candy while decorating the Great Hall with carved floating pumpkins. I thought this was extremely interesting, considering the muggle version of the holiday, and upon a little bit more research, I discovered that the Hogwarts traditions had been appropriated from muggle culture which in turn had appropriated the holiday itself from the wizarding world.

Sometimes I marvelled at how entwined our worlds actually were while some students and teachers continued to resist any influence of muggle culture permeating the school walls whatsoever.

"You want to do what?" Headmaster Slinkhard frowned when I presented my idea to him.

I bit my lip, wondering if I was overstepping my boundaries. I knew that there were some out there who didn't like me and wanted me to stay in my place, but I also knew that I'd been brought in for a reason and I couldn't ignore my duty to educate both the students of this school and the teachers.

"I want to have a proper muggle Halloween," I repeated. "I want to encourage the students and teachers to dress up in costumes, and then have the students go classroom to classroom trick-or-treating for candy."

"Trick-or-treating?" Headmaster Slinkhard asked in confusion.

"It's a muggle term," I clarified. "On Halloween, children go from house to house and ask for candy by saying 'trick-or-treat'. I don't know why, but it's a lot of fun."

"And you think enough students would participate?" Headmaster Slinkhard asked.

This was another issue I'd known would come up. I knew there were a lot who probably wouldn't participate. Some might even protest. But then I'd thought about what a hit football had been, not just with my third years, but with the whole school, and I knew that there would be people who would get excited about the idea.

I nodded. "I think the novelty alone will draw a lot of attention." I said.

"What about the teachers?" Headmaster Slinkhard asked then. "I won't force anyone to participate if they don't want to."

"That's alright," I agreed. I knew there'd be at least two who wouldn't want any part of this. "If there aren't enough teachers to give out candy, then maybe we can reach out to some of the teams and clubs here at the school. Perhaps the gobstones club or the frog choir? They could have designated locations just like the teachers."

"It's certainly an idea," Headmaster Slinkhard allowed.

"And I want to do a haunted house," I added, deciding that it would be best to lay all my cards out on the table now. "The costumes and the candy take care of the 'treat' part of Halloween, but there's still the 'trick'. A big part of the holiday is about fear and being scared."

"And where would you propose hosting this haunted house?" Headmaster Slinkhard inquired, mercifully not simply dismissing my idea out of hand.

"The Great Hall," I responded immediately. I'd thought about this ahead of time and it was really the only space big enough. "I'd take care of all the preparations and take responsibility for the whole thing," I added. I knew that if I asked, Alex, Skye, and Cam would all pitch in and assist me, so I had no qualms that I'd be able to pull off something spectacular. Certainly, much better than anything I could have done in the muggle world.

Headmaster Slinkhard leaned back and surveyed me with a calculating look.

"Write me up a proposal," he declared. "Submit it by the end of the day. If everything checks out, then you can have your holiday."

"Really?" I asked, excited. I'd figured he'd take a few days to deliberate, but this was basically a green light.

The Headmaster nodded. "And be sure to include an estimate of your total costs so that I can allocate the appropriate funds from the school budget," he added.

I smiled. "Thank you, Sir," I said eagerly, already pushing out my chair so that I could go and get started on my proposal. "You won't be sorry."

"No, I don't suspect I will be," he agreed.

I ran back to my office, practically tripping over my own feet in my excitement. This wasn't just an opportunity to teach my students about muggle culture, but to teach the whole school. Even those who didn't participate – and they were perfectly within their rights to sit the holiday out – would be educated through this experience. Not to mention, it would be a perfect segue into the next unit I had planned for my seventh years: a study of muggle holidays and cults.

As I prepared my proposal, I decided that it would probably be best to include the traditional Hogwarts Halloween feast in the plans. I didn't want to bulldoze through and tear away traditions that had been at place at this school for centuries. I didn't want to take anything away from anyone. I just wanted to add a little muggle flavor and an experience these witches and wizards wouldn't soon forget.

The feast would have to be a little earlier in the day though, in order to allow enough time to pull the haunted house together afterwards. It would be made easier with magic, but I suspected I'd still need a couple hours to get everything in place. I decided that if the feast went from four to six instead of five to seven, that would give me enough time to set things up for muggle Halloween to begin at eight o'clock sharp.

I wondered if it would be overkill to offer extra credit to students who participated in my muggle Halloween? At least this would help me to get people involved. I could have them write a paragraph about their experience to make it a proper assignment. Then again, I didn't want it to seem like this was just for muggle studies students, or discourage other students from participating because there wouldn't be any benefit to them. It might be better if it was presented simply as a fun experience.

It took a few hours, but by the end of it, I was happy with my proposal, and I submitted it with confidence.

"You look happy," Alex commented when I joined Skye, Cameron, and he in the teacher's lounge later that night.

"I am," I grinned.

Alex smiled back.

I knew I hadn't been the best company these past few weeks. The staring the whispering had gotten to me, try as I might to ignore it, and I'd walked around the school on eggshells most of the time. I hadn't been able to relax with my friends, because I was too stressed out about what people were thinking about me. But now that I was passed that, I was determined to forget about all that and move forward.

And after everything I'd learned about Tessa and Hannah and Donnor Dalman and their true feelings about me, I knew one thing for certain. Now was not the time to lay low. Now was the time to do what Headmaster Slinkhard had brought me here to do. If they were determined enough, they could probably run me out of this school eventually, and I had to do my best to expose my students to as much muggle culture as possible before that happened. _That_ was my mission here. I wasn't here to make friends, or to assimilate to wizarding culture, I was here to educate people. And that was exactly what this Halloween plan was going to do.

"Anything you want to share?" Cam asked when I didn't elaborate.

I smirked and shook my head. "Not quite yet," I decided. Until I got the official go-ahead from Headmaster Slinkhard, I should probably keep quiet about my big plans. "Come on Skye, are we playing or not?"

Skye looked down and seemed to suddenly remember the exploding snap cards in her hands. She quickly shuffled them and then dealt them into four piles. The first explosion went off during Cameron's turn. He had been holding his cards close to his face and had a bit of a shock when it happened. The second explosion went off while Alex was still shuffling the cards, causing us all to laugh about how he takes too long to shuffle. The third explosion went off on my turn, but I was becoming so used to this game that it barely fazed me.

It was strange how quickly I'd been able to adapt to certain aspects of this new world that I was now a part of. It made me hopeful for a future where the lines between the muggle and magical worlds weren't so tightly clung to. I liked how I was a part of that and was determined now more than ever to not back down, no matter what got thrown at me, including a near-death experience.

As the evening drew to a close, Skye and Cameron declared that they both had night patrol, leaving Alex and I to make our way back to our quarters.

"Can I walk you back?" Alex offered as we stepped out into the corridor.

I shrugged. "I guess so," I agreed. Though I was perfectly capable of walking to my quarters on my own, I recognized that it would be impolite to refuse the offer. And I didn't really mind spending some more time with Alex.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Alex commented as we fell into step next to each other. "I didn't like seeing you sad."

"I wasn't sad exactly," I responded. "I was more… subdued, I guess."

"Well either way," Alex amended. "I like it better when you're happy."

"I like it better when I'm happy to," I said in a light voice.

Alex chuckled.

"So what changed today?" Alex inquired. "I know you said you didn't want to share yet, but…"

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked, already knowing I was going to cave and tell Alex. He nodded eagerly. "I'm planning a school-wide muggle Halloween."

"Muggle Halloween?" Alex asked. "What does that even mean?"

"Exactly!" I exclaimed then. "You have no idea. This is why we need it."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," Alex pointed out.

I laughed. "You'll see," I promised. "It's going to be great though."

"Oh I know it will if you're in charge," Alex said.

We arrived at my door and I hesitated.

"Well, I guess we should say goodnight," I said awkwardly, looking from Alex to the portrait that guarded the entrance.

"Hang on," Alex insisted. "Before we do, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Alright," I agreed, turning so that I was facing him properly.

Alex took a deep breath and I sensed that this wasn't some casual question. I swallowed.

"Would you maybe – and you can say no if you don't want to – but would you maybe want to get dinner with me in Hogsmeade on Thursday?" he asked.

My heart fluttered and I couldn't help but think how adorable his sudden lack of confidence was. And now that I'd put my unfortunate night at The Bouncing Bulb in the past, I decided that I would very much like to get dinner with Alex.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah that sounds good."

"Well good," Alex smiled nervously. "That's… good."

I bit my lip and glanced back at the portrait of Mr. Marshall, wondering how long we had to linger awkwardly in the hall for.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow," I said, not wanting this moment to become uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Alex agreed, backing away. "Tomorrow. Good."

I couldn't help but giggle at how this situation had made Alex so utterly ridiculous. As he backed away, I turned to Mr. Marshall and nodded at him. My door swung open and I stepped inside, allowing myself one glance back at Alex before I closed it.

He had turned away from me now and was about to round the corner. There was a bounce in his step that hadn't been there before and I smiled, nervously happy at the thought that I was the reason for it.


	33. Hagrid and the Pumpkins

Chapter 33: Hagrid and the Pumpkins

Somehow Thursday simultaneously came too fast and couldn't come fast enough. It was my 'day off', meaning I didn't have any classes to teach, meals to supervise, or patrols to walk. I thought I'd maybe spend the day sleeping in and then taking my time getting ready. I could fix my hair nice and spent some real time on my makeup. But then at eight o'clock I was lying in bed wide awake, unable to fall back asleep.

I realized that I couldn't spend the day hiding out in my quarters. I would go insane waiting until dinnertime. Alex and I had agreed to meet in the Entrance Hall at five to walk down to the village. He'd made a six o'clock reservation at The Three Broomsticks. He'd apologized at first for not taking me somewhere nicer, but after the disaster that had been my trip to Diagon Alley with Skye, I don't think either of us minded staying close to the school.

Since I had hours before I had to be ready to go, I threw on my most comfortable and casual clothes and headed out into the castle to find someone to distract me until dinnertime. I started in the teacher's lounge, but I only found Mark Stern in there, and I didn't want to talk to him. I knew that Skye didn't have anything on her schedule this morning, and I wondered if I should venture all the way down to the quidditch pitch and risk her not even being there. She could be sleeping in after all. She didn't have a breakfast shift this morning.

I decided to try her office, and if she wasn't there, maybe I'd see if Cameron was teaching a class or if he had time to entertain me.

As I was heading down to the first floor, I caught sight of something interesting out a window. Hagrid, the school's gamekeeper and care of magical creatures teacher, was rolling giant pumpkins across the grounds. I was immediately intrigued. These were probably the same pumpkins that Hogwarts used to decorate the Great Hall for the Halloween feast every year. Now that Headmaster Slinkhard had approved my request to basically hijack Halloween, I was in charge of everything, including the decorations. I wondered what Hagrid had planned for those pumpkins, because if they weren't already otherwise engaged, I thought that I might want them.

Abandoning my earlier plan, I hurried down to the main level of the castle and out the doors, my new destination the vegetable patch, where I couldn't believe I hadn't previously noticed the enormous pumpkins that Hagrid was growing. Seriously, some of them were bigger than me. None were bigger than Hagrid though, which was probably a good thing or else how would he be able to move them around?

"Hey Hagrid," I greeted the large man. We hadn't spent too much time together since I'd started working at Hogwarts. He seemed like a good guy, but he tended to keep himself separated from the rest of the teachers. He didn't even sleep in the castle, but in a crumbling hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It looked like the hut had been damaged once by fire and then rebuilt around the damage. I wondered why he hadn't simply fixed it with magic and then wondered if perhaps there were some things that magic couldn't fix. If that was the case, then I wondered why he hadn't built himself a new hut, or moved into the castle where it would surely be more comfortable.

"Professor Harris," Hagrid greeted me with a smile. Despite the fact that we weren't close friends like I was with Skye, Alex, and Cameron, he still treated me warmly every time we interacted. It was something I appreciated. "How are yeh?"

"Good," I responded, walking right up to the pumpkins. "What's going on here?"

"Ah," Hagrid nodded. "Well every year I grow these fer the Halloween feast. But Headmaster Slinkhard says yer in charge o' Halloween this year an' so I thought I'd get these gutted and send the insides teh the kitchen before I get rid o' the rest."

"Hold on," I said. "You're right, I am in charge this year. And I am changing some things. But I actually think these pumpkins are great, and it would be a shame not to use them."

"Really?" Hagrid asked. "I though' yeh were gonna do a muggle Halloween."

"I am," I nodded. "Did you know that muggles decorate with pumpkins as well?"

"Do they?" Hagrid asked. "Well isn' that somethin'?"

"How much time do you have today?" I wondered. Halloween was coming up soon. I'd been working on my plans ever since my project had been approved, but it was time to start actually doing things. Maybe I could get started today with these pumpkins.

"I teach a class in the afternoon," Hagrid replied. "But apart from that, I was jus' gonna take care o' these pumpkins."

"How about we take care of them together?" I offered. "They'll still need to be gutted, but then we can get them carved and ready for Halloween. I assume you can do some kind of preservation spell on them so they'll keep?"

Hagrid glanced at the ground and back at me. "Usually one o' the other teachers does a spell," he said. "Professor Longbottom or Professor Flitwick."

"Why can't you just do it?" I frowned.

Hagrid shrugged his shoulders and kicked at the ground. I got the distinct impression then that I'd hit on a touchy subject, something he didn't like to talk about.

"Sorry," I apologized. "You don't have to tell me."

Hagrid shook his head. "It's not like it's a secret," he said then. "An it's better now that me name's been cleared."

"Cleared?" I frowned. "Cleared of what?"

"When I was a student here," Hagrid said. "I was accused of something - it's a long story, but I was expelled."

"Expelled?" I gasped in surprise. This I hadn't been expecting.

Hagrid nodded. "They snapped me wand and kicked me out. Dumbledore - he was Headmaster at the time - he kept me on as gamekeeper. But it wasn't until Harry an' Ron an' Hermione solved the mystery that they realized I never had anything to do with it."

"Who?" I frowned at the unfamiliar names.

Hagrid shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he muttered. "Point is, I never finished my schooling. So I'm not really supposed to use magic, you see."

"You can't do magic?" I asked, suddenly filled with a mixture of emotions.

I'd thought that I was the only one here that couldn't do magic, but here was Hagrid telling me that we were the same. Not exactly the same of course. He wasn't a muggle. He was still a wizard, even if he wasn't supposed to use his magic. He'd still lived his whole life in the wizarding world. But at the same time, I felt a sense of kinship with him that I didn't feel with any of the other teachers, even my friends.

"How does that work?" I wondered. "I mean, you're a teacher and all your students can do magic, but you can't."

Hagrid nodded. "It was tough at first," he admitted. "They liked to tease me, levitating my things above me head where I couldn' reach them or movin' them when I wasn' lookin'. But I jus' ignored it all and eventually they all stop."

"What about when you're patrolling?" I wondered. "How do you get them to listen to you? How do you get them to respect you?"

"It's not easy," Hagrid said. "But I jus' make sure they know that I'm in charge. My size helps, but that's not everything. It's all about the attitude. You have to show them that you're not a target. You have to show them that you're in charge."

I was hooked. All this time I'd thought I was the only person who'd walked the halls of Hogwarts without being able to do magic. But Hagrid couldn't use magic either. He'd had to find his own ways of handling things, just like I was doing. He'd faced many of the same challenges I was facing now, and he was doing just fine. The students respected him and he seemed happy.

Having found someone I could finally relate to, I couldn't let the opportunity to pick Hagrid's brain slip by. So we got set up with the pumpkins, and I asked him all the questions that had been piling up in my head. I even opened up to him about the Donnor Dalman/Tessa Flitwick situation.

"Ah that Tessa is a challenging one," he said then. "Her uncle was great, he used to teach the subject. But then he retired and recommended his niece fer the position. Of course the board took the recommendation. Filius was a legend here and we all trusted his judgement. But she's been stirring up trouble since she got here. She was sent away for school see, to Illvermorny in America. Now I'm not sayin' there's anything wrong with America, but she was instilled with different values than those who come through Hogwarts."

I nodded as if I knew what Hagrid was talking about and then directed the conversation back to my situation.

"Should I do anything about them?" I wondered as I scooped pumpkin guts out of one of the larger pumpkins. I was standing on a ladder just to be able to reach inside, and I knew that I'd never be able to reach the bottom without climbing halfway inside.

Hagrid shook his head. "Jus' leave 'em be," he counselled me. "Long as yer doin' yer job, they can't do anything. They'll dig themselves a hole and you'll want to be as far from it as possible."

This was actually sound advice. I was glad to have opened up to Hagrid. And I was actually having a lot of fun with him and the pumpkins.

Eventually, I had to go back to the castle to wash up and get ready for dinner, and Hagrid had to put a pause on the pumpkin gutting to teach his class.

"I'll come back tomorrow," I promised. "And maybe I can mark how I'd like them carved? I think they'll be too thick for me to get through, but you seem strong."

Hagrid agreed and I returned to the castle in high spirits.

I was surprised that I'd never spent any real time with Hagrid since my arrival here. I supposed his separation from the castle was the major factor in play, but I wished that I'd been more intentional about trying to connect with some of the other teachers. Skye and I had clicked from the beginning and I'd fallen in with her, Alex, and Cameron almost by default. And while they were absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't trade any of them away, it wouldn't hurt to expand my social circle a bit. I would have to make a point of spending time with Hagrid more often. Though he was significantly older than I (I didn't ask how old, but his hair was all grey), he didn't act old. If anything, talking to him had sometimes felt more like talking to a student than a teacher. But he also had a lot of wisdom that I was eager for him to share with me.

All around, he was someone I wanted to get to know better.

But right now, it was time to think about something else. It was time to get ready for my first proper date with Alex.


	34. Dinner

Chapter 34: Dinner...

As planned, we met in the Entrance Hall at five o'clock. In my excitement, I was a little early, and I was pleased to find that Alex was early too.

It was chilly out. It was the end of October, and while it wasn't the dead of winter or anything, it was enough that I'd chosen to wear a jacket over my dress. The dress wasn't too fancy. It was just a plain black dress with a belt cinching it at the waist, but I felt pretty in it. My legs would be cold, but I could live with that. I also decided to leave my hair down and add a pair of my nicer earrings to make myself feel more elegant.

Alex had on a travelling cloak over his robes, which were noticeably nicer than the ones he wore everyday. I didn't know a ton about wizarding fashion, but I'd say that Alex had dressed up too. The thought made me smile.

"You look beautiful," Alex said when he saw me. I smiled even wider.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I returned.

I suddenly became very aware of the fact that this was a date. I'd known it was, of course, but knowing it and feeling it were two different things. I'd known Alex practically three months now and we'd been friends since our first meeting. And while I'd always had a bit of a crush on him, and had also got the sense that he'd had a crush on me too, the dynamic had now shifted. Our mutual attraction was no longer theoretical. We weren't dancing around our crushes anymore, waiting to see what might happen. Alex had pulled the trigger by asking me out, and when I'd said yes it had meant both the end of one thing and also the beginning of another. If tonight went well, it could be the beginning of something amazing. If not, things could get pretty awkward from here on out.

"Shall we get going?" Alex suggested, pointing at the door.

I nodded and followed him outside.

I was glad for the jacket. It wasn't that the temperature itself was particularly low, but the wind was strong enough to make it feel much colder than it was. My hair whipped around my head and I regretted leaving it down. By the time we reached Hogsmeade, it would be a complete mess. At least Alex had seen it before the wind had attacked it and would know that I'd at least tried to look presentable.

"So," I said as we exited the courtyard and began following the path down towards the gates. "How are you? How are things?"

"Things are good," Alex replied blandly. "What about you?"

"Things are good with me too," I confirmed.

I shook my head to myself. This conversation was pathetic. We could do better than this. It wasn't as though we were complete strangers. We'd had no problem talking to each other before today, so why should that change all of a sudden?

"How did things go with Alice the other day?" I inquired. One of Alex's third year students had been having trouble keeping up with the fast pace of his lessons and he'd offered to give her some extra help.

"Good," Alex responded. "But we don't need to talk about work."

"Right," I muttered awkwardly. If we didn't talk about our work, what was left to talk about? It was what we had in common. It was our whole lives, honestly. It was hard to work at a boarding school and board there yourself without it becoming your whole life.

"Tell me something about yourself that I don't know," Alex requested.

I frowned as I tried to think about something and realized that in truth, Alex didn't know much about me. It wasn't that I was hiding my life from him, or from anyone, but it wasn't usually a topic that came up naturally. Having lived a muggle life until now, conversations never prompted me to talk about what I'd done before I came here. He knew a little bit about my education and how I'd ended up here, just as I knew about his brief stint as a curse-breaker before settling down at Hogwarts.

"I'm an only child," I said.

"Really?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Is that so surprising?" I wondered.

Alex shrugged. "Usually only children are closer to their parents than children with siblings. It must be hard to be apart from them."

"I thought it would be harder," I admitted. "I love my parents, but we were never close the way other families are. It's not that we weren't happy, but they both had other things going on besides me. I spent a lot of time on my own. I would have loved to have had a brother or sister. But then, if I had, maybe it would be harder being here and not being able to talk to them."

Alex nodded as I spoke, making sure that I knew he was listening. Not that he needed to. I always felt listened to when I spoke to Alex, even if he wasn't making eye contact with me.

"What about you?" I wondered.

"I have an older brother," Alex said. "And then there's Mum."

"What's your brother's name?" I asked. I didn't dare ask about his father now. From his wording, it was clear he wasn't in the picture and I didn't want to press Alex for details if he wasn't prepared to give them.

"Gavin," Alex replied. "He's twenty seven and he works at the Ministry."

"The Ministry of Magic?" I asked, impressed.

Alex laughed. "Yeah," he confirmed. "In the Department of Magical Transport. Bit of a boring job, really, but he likes the quiet life."

"What does he do specifically?" I wondered.

"He's in the portkey office," Alex said. "He reviews applications for portkeys and decides whether to approve or reject the request."

"Portkey?" I asked, unfamiliar with the word. I was pretty sure I'd read it somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on where.

"An object that when enchanted correctly, can transport you anywhere in the world," Alex said. "As you can imagine, the wizarding world has had to put quite a few restrictions on them. They can only be used where there's a guarantee that no muggles will see anything, and they have to be tagged to a specific location. They're also single-use, so if you want to make a return trip, you have to apply twice."

"Right," I nodded, memories flooding back to me of Professor Carborough's class notes and a book I'd read about the various methods of magical transportation. "Why not just apparate?"

"Apparating is tricky," Alex explained. "The further you want to go, the more challenging it is. Nobody wants to splinch themselves. So if it's really far away, or if you don't have your apparition license, a portkey is a possible alternative."

"Seems like a lot of work," I commented. I didn't have to ask about splinching. I remembered that from my reading as well as the grotesque picture of a person sliced in half that had been included in my predecessor's pile of notes.

"Not any more work than flying in an airplane," Alex retorted. "You've got to go through all the hassle of buying a ticket, checking your baggage, going through security, then waiting at the gate - and there's always delays - and when you land you have to retrieve your bags and make your way back out of the airport. And if you're travelling internationally then there's customs on top of it. A portkey is a lot less work than all of that, and it's instantaneous."

"How do you know so much about airplanes?" I frowned.

Alex shrugged. "Gavin's really into that sort of thing. Trains, planes, boats, automobiles, he's tried them all. He took me on a plane once. Wasn't a great experience. My ears were popping for days. At least when you apparate it's only uncomfortable for a few seconds."

I had to disagree on that point. "No way," I said. "I've only apparated a few times, and obviously never by myself, but I'd take some pressurized ears over that any day."

At this point, we had arrived at the restaurant and Alex led me inside to a table that had clearly been set aside just for us. Though this wasn't exactly a romantic dinner spot, the establishment had done their best to separate out table from the rest of the room and make it a little bit cozier. The table was square, but instead of having the place settings across from each other, they were on a corner, which would mean that we would be sitting even closer to each other.

Alex pulled my seat out for me like a true gentleman and then walked around the table to sit down himself. Menus were presented, and Alex ordered us a couple of butterbeers while we decided on what we wanted. I thought about ordering something more exciting than butterbeer and then thought better of it. After the lobe-blaster incident, I wasn't too keen on ordering drinks that I was unfamiliar with and I suspected that this was on Alex's mind as well and that he wanted to play it safe. I didn't mind. I didn't need to drink to have fun.

When our waitress came back, Alex and I both decided to try the pasta. I asked if I could also have a water, because I suspected that once my meal came the butterbeer wouldn't pair with it too well.

"Okay, so you're an only child," Alex said, bringing our conversation back around to me. "What did you do, growing up? You must have had a lot of friends since you didn't have any siblings."

I thought about it and shook my head. "I didn't really," I confessed. "Making friends was hard for me. I was really shy when I was younger, and once you've made an impression on kids, it's hard to change. I spent most of my childhood on my own."

"Wasn't that lonely?" Alex wondered.

"Maybe," I said. "But I didn't realize it at the time. I had my books and my imaginary friends. I had this one imaginary friend who was a pink robot named Steve. He was great." I flushed as I realized I was talking about my childhood imaginary friends. "Sorry, that was lame, forget I said that."

"No, it's okay," Alex insisted. "I had imaginary friends as a kid too. My favorite was Randy, my imaginary dragon friend."

"Imaginary dragon?" I balked.

"Hey, you had an imaginary robot," he countered.

I laughed. "At least robots can speak English."

"So could Randy!" Alex defended himself.

We descended into laughter, which was only interrupted by the arrival of our food and my water. The conversation came to a halt then as we enjoyed our food. I realized that I was a lot hungrier than I'd thought and it occurred to me that in the excitement of the day, I'd forgotten to eat lunch.

"So how's Halloween coming along?" Alex asked as we slowed down.

"I thought we weren't talking about work?" I teased.

Alex smirked. "Well this is only half work. The other half is fun. Besides, it's coming up soon, I bet you're excited."

"I am," I agreed. "I think I've got all my plans nailed down. Now I just have to implement everything. The hardest part will be getting the teachers and club leaders on board, because without their participation the whole thing could fall apart."

"Well you have my support," Alex declared. "I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Good," I said in relief. "Because I'm going to need help from someone who can do magic if I'm going to get everything set up in a timely manner. And I was thinking since there's no electricity here that we could find some spells to mimic thunder and lightning, and maybe create some fog effects."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Alex agreed. "And you know Skye and Cameron will pitch in too."

I did know that, and it made me happy that even if I didn't have tons of friends growing up, I could already count on my new friends to help me out with anything.


	35. and a Movie

Chapter 35: ... and a Movie

Once we had finished dinner, neither of us really wanted to turn in for the night just yet. The only problem was that Hogsmeade wasn't exactly known for its nightlife. We could have stayed and had drinks at The Three Broomsticks, or gone over to the Hog's Head, but neither was as exciting as something like The Bouncing Bulb or even The Leaky Cauldron. All the shops had closed at this point - usually they only stayed open late on weekends that Hogwarts students were allowed to visit, and it was a weekday today anyway.

There were other spots in Hogsmeade that were popular with students, The Shrieking Shack for one. But going to stare at a haunted shed in the dark didn't exactly scream romance.

In the muggle world the answer would have been simple. The traditional date was dinner and a movie. But in the wizarding world, there were no movies. There weren't even TVs, because magic messed with technology and made it inoperable. However, when I mentioned this, it gave Alex a great idea.

"Come with me," he said. "I know just what we can do."

He began to lead me back up the path towards the castle and I couldn't help but be curious. "Where are we going?" I wondered. Surely we weren't simply going to return to Hogwarts. And if he was just going to take me to his room - well we'd hung out there once before after my first night patrol, but things were different now. It was the end of a date and I wasn't sure that I wanted things to go quite that fast. But he wouldn't tell me, instead keeping his plan a secret.

When we arrived back at school and walked through the main doors, I felt a mixture of disappointment and nervousness. I'd hoped maybe we would go for a walk around the lake at least, but here we were, back in the same castle we spent the majority of our time.

Alex led me to the Grand Staircase, but instead of getting off on either of our floors, he led me all the way up to the seventh floor.

"Where are we going?" I asked again, but Alex only smiled secretively. I wondered if we were going up one of the towers and then wondered which one. There was the astronomy tower, but Professor Brunwell would probably be up there preparing for his classes later tonight. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers were both out since neither of us were the Heads of those houses, and also they would be filled with tons of students. There was the divination tower, but it was musty and dusty up there and there was no good reason for Alex to take me there.

But we weren't headed to a tower at all. We had passed Ravenclaw tower and turned down a corridor that didn't lead anywhere in particular and then Alex stopped, his smile wider than ever. I looked around in confusion.

"You're going to have to give me a clue here," I said.

He turned and gestured to a large painting hanging on the wall. It was so large that it took up the whole wall from floor to ceiling, and was just as long if not more. The people in the painting had been seated around a large table, seemingly having their dinner or at least behaving as though they were since I wasn't sure that paintings could eat, even if it was painted food they were eating. But as soon as we'd arrived, they'd scrambled up and now watched us expectantly as one man stepped into the foreground.

"Professor Campbell," he greeted Alex. "How can we be of service tonight?"

"I thought we might see if you might grant us a performance," Alex said.

"Certainly," the man in the painting said excitedly. "What would you like to see tonight? We've got plenty prepared, though I'm particularly proud of our current version of _Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump_."

"Babbity Rabbity it is!" Alex declared excitedly.

"Babbity Rabbity?" I frowned, unfamiliar with these words. They sounded like some sort of tongue twister, and I still didn't know exactly what the man in this painting was going to do.

"You'll love it, trust me," Alex insisted. "We may not be able to watch a movie, but this is a great magical alternative."

I had so many questions, but I refrained from asking them, instead waiting to see what was going to happen.

Almost immediately, the people in the painting began scrambling around, pushing furniture to the far edges of the painting and some of them ducking behind screens. Two of them went to the very edge of the painting and started dragging something, which I quickly realized was a new backdrop for the painting. Where originally they'd been sitting indoors, now the backdrop was of the outdoors, with a blue sky and green grass.

While that was going on, Alex had taken out his wand and was levitating a bench from further down the hallway until it was sitting in front of the painting. He then cast another spell which turned the bench into a comfortable looking couch and gestured for me to take a seat, which I did.

"Okay seriously," I insisted. "What's happening here?"

"These fine folks are going to put on a show for us," Alex explained, gesturing to the people in the painting again, who now that they had things set up as they wanted were scrambling off to the edges of the painting where the screens were and hiding behind them. "Babbity Rabbity is a classic Beedle the Bard story. It's almost a crime you don't know it yet, but I suppose you can be forgiven since you've only been here for three months."

"Gee thanks," I said sarcastically, but with a joking tone.

Alex sat down next to me, far enough away that we weren't touching, but still close. He waved his wand a final time and the torches behind us and down the corridor on either side of us dimmed, leaving only the two sconces on either side of the painting. It wasn't quite the same effect as when the lights go down in a movie theater, but it was close enough.

One of the men in the painting emerged from behind the left screen and sat down at a piano in the corner. As he began to play, another man emerged from the opposite side and began the narration.

"A long time ago, in a land far away..."

As he spoke, the others men and women - the actors - began to move about the center of the painting, what I was calling the stage. One came out dressed as a tree and took up residence on the far right-hand side of the stage, while another dressed in elaborate robes with a crown on his head - the king - took center stage.

It was an interesting story. I didn't love how muggles came off in it though, and wondered if this was where the prejudice towards muggles stemmed from - a fear that they would try to take magic from the witches and wizards and then kill them all. If so that was ridiculous. The story also painted muggles in a way that made them seem foolish and naive - almost like children. While I didn't agree with the stereotypes presented, I did find the presentation extremely educational. And I was impressed with Alex's ability to find a creative way to end our date. Despite the content of the story, it had been entertaining and a very creative idea. I wondered how many people in the castle knew about this acting troupe and how often they got to perform.

"So what did you think?" Alex asked as he re-lit the torches and returned the bench to its original position.

"It was very unique," I said. "How many different stories can they perform?"

"Lots," Alex assured me. "We'll have to come back so that you can see more. You'll love _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_ and then there's my personal favorite, _The Warlock's Hairy Heart_."

"Hairy heart?" I frowned, thinking that this didn't sound ideal. Even the term 'warlock' had a negative connotation in my mind, but then perhaps that was my own muggle prejudice. It went both ways, I realized. It was my job to get rid of those prejudices on the wizarding side, but maybe it was also my job to do the same in the muggle world. That would be something to ponder another day though.

"Trust me, it's a good one," Alex assured me. "We'll do that one next time."

I had to smile at the idea of next time. I'd had a lot of fun with Alex tonight, but it was nice to have confirmation that he'd had a good time too.

"Definitely," I agreed.

We said our goodbyes and thanked the actors in the painting for their performance. I felt bad that we couldn't give them anything in the way of payment, but Alex assured me that just the joy of performing for an audience was enough payment for them.

It was getting late. It was close to ten o'clock now, and if we weren't careful, we'd be caught by the night patrol.

"I'll walk you back to your quarters," Alex offered.

While I was perfectly capable of returning to the third floor on my own, Alex was being gentlemanly and I appreciated that he wanted to make the end of our date special despite it being in the boarding school we both lived in.

The closer we got to my quarters, the more nervous I got. I knew I wasn't going to invite Alex inside, and I hoped he didn't expect me to. I really didn't want to rush things with him. After two and a half, almost three months of going slow, rushing things now would ruin everything.

I came to a stop outside of the portrait of Mr. Marshall and Alex moved so that he was standing in front of me.

"I had a really great time tonight," he said softly.

The atmosphere changed as he stepped closer to me. Though I'm sure they didn't, it felt like the torches dimmed and my vision zeroed in on him, looking at me like I was something special, something to be desired. I bit my lip.

"I had a great time too," I said, allowing myself to take a step closer too.

Alex glanced down at my lips and then back at my eyes. Even though I didn't want to rush anything, I wanted him to kiss me. I leaned in.

He reached a hand up to cup my cheek and I closed my eyes. The tension between us was palpable and my lips were desperate for his. I trembled as his thumb moved back and forth across my cheek.

Then his hand dropped away and he reached for my hand instead. My eyes flew open in confusion and I watched passively as he lifted my hand and gently kissed the top of it.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, letting go of my hand and moving away from me.

"Tomorrow. Right," I said, disappointment flowing through me. Why hadn't he kissed me? Why had he backed out at the last minute? Had he changed his mind? Had I done something wrong?

Alex smiled at me again and I found myself utterly confused. Was he just being polite? Why would he smile if he didn't like me anymore?

I felt like everything was crashing in around me, and I knew my emotions were about to run out of control. I didn't want Alex to see me become unhinged, so I forced a smile onto my face and nodded at Mr. Marshall to let me in.

As soon as the portrait opened the door, I bolted inside and shut the door behind me.

"What the hell?" I screamed, taking advantage of the soundproofing around my room and knowing that Alex couldn't hear me now.

I felt like my stomach had dropped out of my body. The date had gone so well, seemingly. We'd had a nice time, the conversation had never gotten boring, and then at the end of the date, it had really seemed like Alex was going to kiss me. All the signals had been there. So why had he stopped? It had to be me. I knew it was me. Maybe it was the fact that I was a muggle. I'd thought Alex was different than the others. He'd always been nice to me and had stood by me when Tessa or Hannah were trying to tear me down. But maybe my being a muggle was ultimately something no wizard would ever be able to get past.

I vaguely remembered Jordan's reaction when Skye had told him I was a muggle. Shock and horror were the two emotions that I remembered most clearly. I was disgusting. My lack of magical ability had made me completely unappealing to any guy in the wizarding world that I would ever meet. Suddenly, I couldn't wait until my contract was up at the end of the year. I couldn't wait to get out of this place and these judgmental people. I just wanted to go back to my quiet, lonely life and never have to feel this wretched ever again.


	36. Halloween Part 1

Chapter 36: Halloween Part 1

When I awoke the next morning, I determined that I wasn't going to let what happened the night before change how I did my job. I was a professional, and I was going to act like one. And I still had Halloween to plan.

I had to supervise breakfast that morning, which meant that I was up and out first thing. I knew now that I couldn't ask Alex to help me with preparing the castle for Halloween, so I waited for Skye to come to breakfast and then ambushed her.

"Of course I'll help," Skye agreed immediately. "You know I will."

"Thanks," I said. It was good to know that I could still count on her, even know I now knew that she would like me better if I had magic of my own. Perhaps that was why she hadn't told me about lobe-blasters, I mused.

I shook my head. This was not the time to go down that rabbit hole.

Over the next few days, planning consumed me. I got the pumpkins all finished with Hagrid, who was quickly becoming my favorite person to spend time with. At least with him, I knew that he didn't despise me for my lack of ability to use magic, because he'd gone through the same thing. I was able to convince about half the teachers to get on board with my plans, along with enough club leaders that I was confident the night would be a success.

Then there was the haunted house. I had to rely heavily on Cam and Skye for that, because it would be their magic that did most of the decorating. I came up with the basic design and layout and had to leave it pretty much entirely in their hands to bring it to life. In my design, I'd turned the one large room that was the Great Hall into multiple smaller rooms, using the dividers that were used during O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to mark off the different rooms. Then, I'd given each room a classic muggle Halloween theme. One room was a tomb with a mummy that had come to life. One room was set up as a graveyard where zombies would rise from their graves. One room was decorated like a laboratory with all sorts of terrifying devices like an electric chair and a torture table. Another room still would act as the vampire room with two coffins side by side. Meanwhile, there would be terrifying spiders, rats, bats, and all sorts of other traditional Halloween decorations.

In a stroke of genius, I'd also managed to figure out how to incorporate this whole thing into my classes. Since I was low on volunteers, I announced that anyone who agreed to dress up and be actors in the haunted house would get extra credit. I needed people to pretend to be mummies and zombies and vampires and this was a perfect way not only to do that, but also to get my students involved in the holiday. Not all of them were thrilled at the idea, but enough signed up that I was feeling good.

Meanwhile, I was avoiding Alex like the plague. Ever since the disastrous ending to our date, I hadn't been able to face him. Even just the thought of being in a room with him or trying to have a conversation with him made me want to cry. I'd really thought that we had something. I'd felt something, and I'd thought that he felt it too. Obviously I was wrong, and it had left me both devastated and humiliated. And while the devastation was starting to fade away as I closed myself off from Alex emotionally, the humiliation was still fresh and didn't seem likely to ever go away.

At first, Alex was acting like everything was normal. When he came into the Great Hall for breakfast on Friday morning, he'd smiled at me like nothing was wrong. I'd had to look away and clench my teeth to keep myself from bursting into tears right there.

After that, I'd made a point of never being in the same room as him. When he came into the teacher's lounge, I immediately left. Unless I was supervising, I took my meals in my quarters. When I was supervising, I busied myself by talking with the professors that would be assisting me with my Halloween event so that I wouldn't have to talk to him. I avoided the ancient runes department altogether, even going so far as to cross the school on an entirely different floor. Eventually, it seemed that he got the message that I didn't want to see or talk to him, because he stopped smiling or trying to approach me at all, which was just what I wanted.

"Why are you avoiding Alex?" Skye asked me one day while I was explaining my desire for the haunted house layout to her to determine what was feasible.

"I'm not," I said, an obvious lie.

Skye gave me a look. "I've been watching the two of you. You take off running every time he's so much as in the same room as you."

I shrugged uncomfortably. "Whatever," I muttered. "It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal!" Skye insisted. "Alex is miserable."

"Are you sure about that?" I demanded. I would have thought that Alex would be relieved not to have to deal with me anymore. I'd saved him the trouble of officially breaking up with me, which surely would have been his next move anyway. He was free of me. He should be happy. "Have you actually talked to him?"

"No," Skye replied. "He won't tell me anything."

"Well trust me," I said. "It's better off this way."

Most likely he didn't want to admit to Skye how close he'd come to kissing me. Surely he was repulsed at the thought and just wanted to forget that it had ever happened. His humiliation was sufficient in simply having gone out with me, he didn't need to let everyone know it had happened. And I wasn't about to fill in the gaps for Skye. My humiliation was enough too.

Skye tried a few more times to talk to me about Alex, but I shut her down every time. Eventually, she backed off.

It was hard, avoiding someone who lived in the same building as me. I couldn't hang out in the teacher's lounge playing exploding snap with my friends anymore, and I started spending a lot more time on my own, reading. Lucky for me, the Hogwarts library was filled with interesting books to read about wizarding culture, and if I ever got tired of that, there was actually a muggle section with a few of the classics, including Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and some other titles I'd read when I was in school. They weren't what I would normally choose to read, but they were a comfort when things felt particularly hard.

All too soon, Halloween was upon us and there was no more time to feel sorry for myself. I had an event to pull off and I needed it to go perfectly. While I now knew that I would never truly fit in here and that I couldn't possibly have a future teaching here, I wanted to go out on a high note. These people would never accept me, but I was going to make sure that when I left, they respected me. And if they didn't respect me, then at least they would have learned something from me.

Halloween morning I was a bundle of nerves. This would be my biggest endeavor yet and I wanted it to go perfectly. I cancelled all my classes for the day, giving both my students and myself time to get ready for that night. Since Skye didn't have classes to teach either, I spent the day going around the castle with her putting up decorations. I told her where I wanted things, and she conjured large spider webs in corners and cheesy muggle style ghosts hanging from the ceilings. On one of his free periods, Hagrid brought all the pumpkins up to the castle, and we had Skye use a levitation charm to get them all to hover in midair throughout the Great Hall, much as I was told they had in previous years.

All through dinner, I could barely sit still. Despite the fact that it was a feast and there was tons of good food, I could barely manage to eat anything. As soon as the feast was over, I immediately began shooing students out of the room, eager to get started on the transformation. A couple of the stragglers were still eating, and I told them to take their chicken to go, because I needed the tables cleared.

Once the last students were gone, the elven magic of the kitchen summoned all the food and dishes back downstairs, leaving me with an empty hall. Skye immediately set to work moving the tables and setting up the partitions, getting the basic layout of the space set up first. Cam joined us too, and I had him start by the existing furniture in the room into the furniture I wanted for my haunted house, and then conjuring the rest. It was complicated magic, I was told, but Skye and Cam did a good job.

The next part was trickier and took much longer than anticipated. There were so many special touches and small details that I wanted for this haunted house, but everything had to be individually created. Some things I'd had prepared ahead of time, and so I busied myself setting these up while Skye and Cam handled the magic. Skye commented more than once that this would all go faster if Alex was helping too, and Cam made a confused comment about how he'd thought Alex had told him he was helping, but I shut them both down, unwilling to talk or even think about Alex that night.

Finally, Skye and Cam put the finishing touches on the set-up. Skye conjured fog from her wand which settled throughout the haunted house, making it more mysterious and therefore more frightening. Cam cast a spell to modify the enchantment on the ceiling so that instead of mimicking the actual night sky, it was displaying a thunderstorm with loud claps of thunder and occasional blasts of lightning that would light up the whole room in a blinding flash. We dimmed all the torches in the room as low as we could, casting the whole space in an eerie almost-darkness and I felt a chill run through me at the sight. We were ready.

Skye and Cam let me have the honor of opening the double doors of the Great Hall to the public. I'd been expecting a whole crowd of people waiting to get inside, but was a little disappointed when there were only about fifteen students in the Entrance Hall. Nevertheless, the show would go on as scheduled. So, with my actors in place and in costume, I sent the students in, eager to find out what they thought of the whole thing.

The slightly OCD part of me that needs to control everything wanted to walk through the haunted house with the students to see what they thought of it, but Skye and Cam dragged me away, insisting that it wouldn't be as fun for them with their teacher tagging along. I had to agree with them. So instead, I left the Great Hall alone and began a quick patrol of the rest of the school to make sure that everyone who was meant to be handing out candy was doing so properly. As I moved through the school, I crossed paths with a few groups of students, mostly underclassmen, dressed in costumes and carrying pillowcases, and I couldn't help but grin at the sight of these magical children finally experiencing the muggle holiday.


	37. Halloween Part 2

Chapter 37: Halloween Part 2

"Trick or treat!"

I watched from down the hall as Andromeda dropped a lollipop into the pillowcases of each of the three second years currently standing at her door. With their candy acquired, the students thanked their teacher and hurried down the corridor in the direction of the greenhouses and Professor Longbottom.

"How's everything going?" I asked, walking up to the door to the transfiguration classroom and peeking inside.

The classroom itself wasn't decorated in any special way. I'd left it up to the individual teachers and club leaders whether they wanted to go to the trouble of decorating their own spaces. But I was pleased to see that the transfiguration professor had dressed up. Though I couldn't figure out what it was she was dressed as, I assumed it was some sort of magical animal or creature.

"Good," Andromeda replied. "Though I'm not quite understanding what the benefit is for the people that hand out the candy."

"The joy of bringing joy to children," I explained. "Plus, since muggles usually each decorate their own houses and lawns, it's a chance to show off a bit too."

"Ted always talked about muggle Halloween," Andromeda said. "But I never really understood the difference from what we do here until now. And while this is all quite the experience, I can't say I'm in love with the concept."

"It's more fun when it's done properly in the neighborhood," I admitted. "Doing it here in the castle was just the best imitation I could come up with."

I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Andromeda didn't love my event, but I supposed from her perspective it made sense. Whenever I'd handed out candy on Halloween, part of the joy of it had always been in remembering when I was a kid trick-or-treating myself. Nobody here had ever done it before, so there was no nostalgia for them to feel.

"Nevertheless," Andromeda said. "It's nice to see firsthand what Ted was always talking about. Makes me feel a little closer to him after all these years."

"Ted?" I inquired curiously. I hadn't spent much time with Andromeda in my time here and found that I didn't know much about her.

"My late husband," Andromeda clarified. "He was a muggle like you."

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

I knew of course that there were such things as relationships between witches or wizards and muggles. After I'd attempted to break up the duel in the corridor, Alex had explained to me about blood status and the differences between purebloods, half-bloods, and muggle-borns. So I knew that there were some students here who had one magical and one non-magical parent. But knowing something in theory and hearing about it in practice were two very different things, and in light of what I'd recently been through, it hit even closer to home.

Andromeda nodded. "When we were married, he assimilated into wizarding culture, so we never celebrated things like muggle Halloween," she said. "I did always wonder whether he missed it though."

I was intrigued by Andromeda's story and wanted to stay and ask her more questions. I wanted to know how her relationship with Ted had come about, how they'd made things work being from two separate worlds. I wanted to know how she'd managed to get past his lack of magical ability and marry him anyway. I wanted to know whether this had created a rift in their relationship or caused any problems over the years. I wanted to know more about Ted's assimilation into magical culture. I wanted to know what the reason for that was - whether it had been their mutual agreement, or whether it was simply what was expected of muggles in these sorts of relationships. Most of all, I wanted to know whether she'd really loved and accepted her husband, or whether she'd married him for other reasons.

But I didn't have time to ask all these questions now.

"Do you need more candy?" I asked peeking into the bowl of lollipops sitting by the door. It appeared to be completely full and my heart sank at the thought that so few students were out trick-or-treating tonight.

"I'm alright," Andromeda replied. "I'm the transfiguration professor, I can duplicate these lollipops as long as I need to."

"Right," I nodded, recalling that magic would of course negate the need to replenish candy stores. "Okay then, carry on."

Moving along, I made my way towards Professor Longbottom's classroom next. As I was rounding the corner of the corridor, a group of students were approaching from the other direction and they were discussing my haunted house. My heart jumped when I realized this and I listened in greedily, eager to hear how great it was.

"Honestly I was a little underwhelmed," one of the students said. "The portrayal of vampires in that room with the coffins was just offensive."

"What was up with those coffins anyway?" a second student asked. "Vampires aren't inferi. They didn't die and get reanimated. Vampires are born."

"I think the coffins are meant to be where they sleep," a third student spoke up. "At least, I'm pretty sure that's the muggle myth."

"But vampires don't sleep!" the second student exclaimed.

"Personally I think the most offensive part of all this is these pathetic white sheets hanging all over the school they're calling ghosts," the third student said then. "First of all, ghosts don't all look the same, they look like themselves but transparent. And second of all, ghosts aren't meant to be scary. At least vampires are dark creatures. Ghosts are just departed souls that haven't left our plane of existence."

"Yeah, the ghosts are pretty bad," the first student agreed. "But let's not go blaming the whole school for this ridiculous event. You know who's responsible."

"But the professors are all participating!" the third student protested. "That makes them complicit. And Headmaster Slinkhard approved this whole charade."

"Not all the professors are participating," the second student pointed out. "Professor Abbott-Longbottom is hosting extended office hours in the after-hours potions lab for anyone who wants extra help, and Professor Flitwick is helping her."

"Maybe we should have gone down there," the first student commented. "At least we'd be doing something productive."

"But I want candy," the third student said. "It was so disappointing when there wasn't any at the Halloween feast. There's always candy at the Halloween feast."

"I heard Professor Abbott-Longbottom and Professor Flitwick had a candy table down in the dungeons too," the second student said. "And with real wizarding candy, not this muggle trash. Bertie Botts' Beans, chocolate frogs, jelly slugs, the whole lot of it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" the third student asked. "Let's go!"

I listened as the three students paused and turned around and started walking the other direction. Peeking around the corner, I recognized one of the students as Mallory Abner, from my sixth year class. The other I didn't recognize and I suspected that they weren't taking muggle studies.

I didn't feel good about the comments that they had made, but I told myself to ignore it. Not everyone was going to appreciate what I was trying to accomplish here, I'd known that from the start. And I knew that not everyone would understand my decorations. The point wasn't to be accurate to the wizarding world, but to be accurate to the muggle world. The point was to show everyone what Halloween looked like in the muggle world, and in the muggle world, vampires slept in coffins and ghosts were sheets with eyes.

What did annoy me was the revelation that Hannah and Tessa were down in the after-hours potions lab hosting some kind of rebel Halloween event. Their cover story may have been extended office hours, but I knew better. They were just trying to poach students from me. They had a wizarding sweets table for crying out loud! I hoped that not too many students knew about this rebel Halloween in the dungeons.

I was feeling a little dejected as I approached the greenhouses and Professor Longbottom's office, but then a group of fourth year Hufflepuffs came by, and upon seeing me stopped me in excitement.

"Professor Harris!" one of them shouted enthusiastically. I recognized her from my fourth year class. Her name was Allison Wright, and though she was the only one I recognized, the others were looking at me with as much enthusiasm and glee as she was.

"Allison," I greeted her warmly. "How are you and your friends enjoying the holiday?"

"This is so great," Allison said emphatically. "It's been years since I've been able to trick-or-treat. I didn't realize how much I missed it, coming here."

"Missed it?" I frowned in confusion.

"I'm a muggle-born," Allison clarified. "We all are," she gestured to her friends. "There's just so much from the muggle world that we can't share with the other students here, because they'd neve understand. But what you've pulled off tonight is so great. I feel like I'm seven years old all over again!"

"And the haunted house was amazing!" one of the other girls jumped in. "It reminded me of how my parents always used to decorate our yard. We won best decorated house three years in a row on our block."

"I'm so glad you're all having so much fun," I said, all thoughts of the pessimistic sixth years floating out of my mind. It didn't matter what they thought. What mattered was what these fourth years thought. What mattered was that I'd managed to bring a piece of the muggle world into Hogwarts.

I hadn't even thought about all the muggle-born students at this school in all my preparations. I'd been trying to educated the children of magical families, but I'd never even considered all the children of non-magical families that would be able to enjoy the holiday. I realized in that moment that the muggle-born children would likely be some of my strongest allies going forward with any other endeavor that I might want to pull off. And not only that, but I was providing something for them that nobody else here had ever provided. I was telling them that they didn't have to give up on all their muggle traditions just to fit into this community.

I thought of Andromeda and her husband Ted. If a muggle who married a witch had to give up all his muggle traditions and assimilate, then what did that mean for muggle-born witches and wizards? They came to Hogwarts at the age of eleven, and by the time they graduated, everything they'd ever learned of the muggle world would be completely stamped out. But the beauty of muggle-born students was that there could be overlap between the two worlds. There was no need to pick one world and only live in it. People should be allowed to live in both worlds at the same time.

The rest of the night went rather smoothly. Though I was sure there were many other students who hated what I'd done, I got a few more comments like the ones from those Hufflepuff fourth years that made the whole endeavor worth it for me. When curfew arrived, I joined Skye and Cam back in the Great Hall to dismantle the haunted house and put things right for breakfast the following morning. I didn't worry too much about the corridors. More than likely the professors on night patrol and Mr. Clarke would see to ridding the school of any evidence of Halloween before morning arrived.

When I finally crawled into bed, I was exhausted. It had been a long day and an even longer night. And I had so much more to think about now. Despite my physical tiredness, my mind was whirring and took a while to settle down. But once it did, I slept more soundly than I had in a while.


	38. Tough Break

Chapter 38: Tough Break

"I want to know why you're avoiding me."

It had been just over a week since Halloween and in that week, I'd spent most of my time dodging away anytime I saw Alex coming. I could tell he wanted to talk to me. Probably he'd wanted to before, but had seen how busy I was preparing for Halloween that he'd let it go until now. But I'd known that eventually he was going to corner me. It had only been a matter of time.

"I'm not avoiding you," I said, trying to duck around him.

"You are," he insisted, blocking my path. "You haven't spoken to me since our date."

It was too early for this. I'd just woken up, hadn't even eaten anything yet let alone had enough time to become fully alert. If Alex could have picked the worst time for this confrontation, he had.

"I have to supervise breakfast," I told him, trying to push past.

"Skye can hold down the fort for a few minutes," Alex assured me, blocking me again. "Besides, Cam is already down there."

"Alex, can we please do this another time?" I pleaded, trying to get away from my door.

"No," Alex said firmly. "We're doing this now."

I sighed, frustrated. Why couldn't Alex leave it alone? He'd made his feelings very clear that night, and really there was nothing to talk about. I knew he probably felt bad for leading me on, wanted to apologize and explain himself in some way. But I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear him tell me how great I was for a muggle, but that it just wasn't going to work. I didn't want to hear him explain why a wizard/muggle relationship was doomed to fail or why he couldn't bring himself to participate in one. I knew everything he was going to say and I didn't want to hear any of it.

"Look, there's really nothing to talk about," I said.

"I think there is," Alex pressed.

"Can't we just leave things where they are?" I asked. "Why make this more difficult than it already is?"

"So that's it then?" Alex asked with a frown. "You've made your decision?"

"I guess so," I shrugged. It had been necessary. Alex hadn't been able to do it, and someone had to officially end things. While it really should have been him, I was glad to do it if it meant that Alex stopped following me around the castle.

"Can I ask why?" he inquired.

I couldn't understand why he was dragging this out. He should be glad I was ending things. I was saving him the trouble of having to do it himself.

"It's not like there's any future here," I pointed out. Alex had already shown me that. "Why keep making ourselves miserable pretending when it's going to end like this anyway?"

The expression on Alex' face was strange. He looked sad, almost hurt, like my breaking up with him was something he didn't want. But I knew better. He was just putting on a show. He was making it seem like he was upset, so that he wouldn't come across the bad guy. He'd left that role open for me. And while I resented him for forcing me into it, I didn't regret my words.

"I see," Alex said stiffly.

We stood there awkwardly for a few moments and I wondered whether I should wait for Alex to leave or just leave myself. But he wasn't going anywhere, so I took the initiative and ducked past him, this time without being blocked.

I left Alex there as I made my way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I was only a few minutes late, and thankfully I was on with Skye and not Tessa, and she didn't mind that I'd been tardy.

I spent the majority of breakfast replaying my conversation with Alex over in my head and realized that I was annoyed. He'd been the one to make the decision about us, and yet he'd forced me into having to claim ownership over his decision and put an end to things. It was a cowardly move. He should have been a man and ended things that night as soon as he realized how he felt, or at the very least just stayed away from me and let things die on their own. But following me around, cornering me outside my quarters, just to get me to break things off? It was pathetic.

But as breakfast came to a close, I determined that I wasn't going to dwell on it. I wasn't going to pine over Alex like some sad little girl. I wasn't going to let him get to me. I wasn't going to think about him at all. I'd already figured out that this life wasn't for me. So I was going to focus on my job until my contract expired, and then I'd never have to see or think about Alex ever again.

I had the third years first period. We'd moved on from studying muggle sports to studying muggle games and today, the lesson was dedicated to explaining hangman to them. After a brief explanation at the beginning of the lesson, I decided a practical demonstration was in order, so I picked a couple of students to come up one after the other and select a word for the class to guess. The first student chose the word _pogrebin_, which I understood to be a magical creature. The second student chose the word _sandwich. _After that was _cuttlefish_, _apothecary_, _densaugeo_, and _imagination_. The students had a lot of fun with it, and by the time the lesson was over, I had more than one disappointed third year wishing that they'd got a turn up at the board.

Immediately after my third years, I had my sixth year class. We were talking about the muggle method of mending bones, which was much more extensive than the wizarding method. I told everyone the anecdote of the time I'd broken my leg as a child and had to wear a cast for two months. Everyone was very confused by the concept of crutches and how one would be able to get around with them, and I decided to ask Headmaster Slinkhard if we could purchase a few sets of crutches for my sixth years to try out. I thought it might be a fun project - make them walk on crutches for a day each and write an essay about their experience. I would have to find a way to make sure they didn't cheat though, since actually breaking all my students' legs was out of the question.

I had a free period after that, which I used to grade the papers my third years had turned in earlier that morning on the topic of muggle card games and how they differ from wizarding ones like exploding snap. I would have continued to grade all through lunch, except that I had to supervise again. As soon as lunch was over though, I was back in my office finishing up the grading and when my fifth years arrived for fifth period, I was finished grading the third years' papers.

Having studied how electricity works, my fifth years were now learning about various household devices that muggles used that didn't exist in the wizarding world. In true muggle fashion, I'd decided that the best way to go about this would be to assign an oral presentation just like the ones I'd been required to do all through primary and secondary school. I'd allowed my students to pair off with a partner and then I'd assigned each pair a device to study and present to the class. I didn't choose anything complicated, mostly things like washing machines and dishwashers, blenders and hair dryers. But they were all things that the wizarding world didn't have, because they used spells to get the same results.

I allowed my students four class periods over the course of two weeks to work with their partners and prepare their presentations. I knew most other professors here wanted their students to work on projects outside of class, and while I knew that this project would require more than four hours of preparation, I also felt it was fair to dedicate some class time to the endeavor. That was how it had been done in muggle school anyway.

So while the students worked, some occasionally coming up to ask me questions, I got started on finalizing my third year lessons plans for the remainder of the month.

About halfway through the lesson, I heard some snickering and whispers floating around the classroom and looked up from my work to find two of my students towards the back of the classroom with their chairs pushed together making out. I cleared my throat, but this only made my students laugh more and did nothing to interrupt the two lovebirds. Looking around the room, I realized that it was Philip Longman and Kate Sparks, the two students that Alex had warned me about at the beginning of term and the same two I'd found fooling around in the divination tower.

"Everyone back to work," I called out, trying to get the rest of the students to focus on what they were supposed to be doing. I knew it was futile. I was honestly shocked myself that Philip and Kate were so bold as to do what they were doing right in the middle of a lesson. If I'd been a student, I'd be staring and laughing too. But I was the teacher, and it was my job to break it up.

Reluctantly, I walked over to them, wishing that they would notice the attention, notice me approaching, and separate. But they were lost in their own little world, completely oblivious to anything that was going on around them. I tried to think of what a teacher would do in this situation and I remembered a teacher I'd had once, Ms. Allison, who'd had to deal with some of the most difficult situations and had always done so without flinching. She'd been strict, but without being mean. I attempted to embody her as I walked up to the two lip-locked students. When I did and they still didn't notice me, I lifted my hands to their ears and clapped as loud as I could.

They immediately sprang apart.

Realizing the situation they were in, both looked up at me with panic in their eyes.

"Sorry Professor Harris," Philip apologized. "We were just - "

"I don't care what you thought you were doing," I said, channeling my inner Ms. Allison. "This is a classroom, not a bedroom. You're meant to be learning."

"It won't happen again," Philip promised.

I wondered how I should proceed. Should I be strict and punish them, even if it was for something this small? Then again, it wasn't really small at all. Not only had they been blatantly not paying attention, they'd been distracting everyone else with their display. But it was also their first offence, so I decided to go easy on them.

"It better not," I said. "This is your only warning."

With that said, I returned to the front of the room and continued on with my lesson plan as if nothing had happened, setting an example for my students in the hopes that they would get back to work. Which they did, eventually.


	39. Bad Mood

Chapter 39: Bad Mood

"Hagrid, why do witches and wizards dislike muggles so much?" I asked one day.

Ever since my final confrontation with Alex, I'd taken to spending more of my free time with Hagrid to avoid running into him up at the castle. And since he'd been friends with Skye and Cam before me, I thought it was only the polite thing to do to let the three of them be. Which left me with a lot of free time.

"They don' dislike muggles," Hagrid said. "They jus' don' always understand 'em."

"Well then why don't they learn?" I insisted. "So few students take muggle studies, and half of those students are only taking the class because they think it'll be an easy A."

"You mean an easy O," Hagrid corrected me.

"Right," I nodded. "And easy O."

"It's not that they don' want to learn abou' muggles," Hagrid said. "But learnin' to be a wizard is hard."

"It doesn't look that hard," I muttered. "All they have to do is wave their wands and say a few words."

"It's not tha' simple," Hagrid shook his head. "Yeh have ter get the incantation _jus' _right, and the wand movement has to be _very_ precise."

"Still though," I insisted. "It's not like it's algebra or chemistry."

"What?" Hagrid frowned.

I sighed. "Never mind," I replied.

I wondered if maybe I should try teaching my students algebra. Maybe it would give them a new appreciation for muggles. Then again, it would probably just make them resent us more than they already did. This whole situation was so frustrating.

I'd felt good after Halloween. I'd thought that my event had really made an impact on people. But the more time passed, the more I realized that my students didn't care. They turned in half-assed essays, clearly written in the ten minutes before they were due. A couple of students had faked nosebleeds to get out of class. I didn't know how they'd done it, but when the first, second, and third student to get a nosebleed all got them in exactly the same way - a sudden onset of gushing after nothing - I knew that it had to be some sort of magic. But it wasn't as though I could prove anything.

I wanted to make a difference, but I couldn't make a difference if nobody wanted things to change.

I knew that a lot of my frustration stemmed from everything that had happened with Alex. Worse than the rejection was the reason for the rejection, and the realization that even someone like Alex was close-minded where it counted. If Alex, who'd supported me and my purpose here from the beginning, couldn't get past my nature, then how were my students supposed to learn to accept muggles? I'd told myself my goal was to revolutionize the muggle studies course and bring the wizarding and muggle worlds closer together by educating my students. But with every passing day, the possibility of that actually working seemed further and further away. I was just one person. I wasn't going to change the world all on my own.

Starting the week off on Monday morning, I was in a pretty terrible mood. The rest of the year was stretching ahead of me empty and bleak. I had no real friends here, not in the true sense of the word, and I'd lost what I'd thought I had. My purpose here was fruitless. Nobody wanted to learn and so nobody was going to learn. I handed the third years back their essays on the topic of muggle board games and issued my very first T. It wasn't as though the paper didn't deserve it though. It was a pathetic excuse for a homework assignment and may as well have not been turned in.

In my fifth year class, Philip and Kate decided to forgo working on their project in favor of devouring each other's lips once again for the whole class to see. I was already in a pretty bad mood, and I'd already warned them about this kind of behavior, so I did something I hadn't done since my first week here and I gave them both detention.

"Friday night. Seven o'clock. Right here," I said sternly.

"But Professor Harris," Kate said in dismay. "_Friday night? _Why not tonight?"

"I'm busy tonight," I informed them. In truth, I just wanted to ruin their Friday night. If I was going to be miserable, then at least they could be miserable with me.

Wisely, nobody came by my office during office hours. Though it was probably because nobody cared enough about the subject to need help with anything. I spent the entire two hours grading the new papers my third years had provided me with. They were getting worse, if that was possible. I gave out two T's, a few D's and a handful of P's. Two of my students hadn't even handed their papers in. I decided that if my students didn't care enough to learn what I was trying to teach, then they shouldn't pass the class. Maybe failing muggle studies would show them that the subject was actually more important than they'd realized.

On Tuesday I stayed in my quarters all morning. I was in a worse mood than the day before and knew that the castle didn't want me walking around being sour. I had my seventh years that afternoon, and knowing that I was going to have to deal with Donnor Dalman again was making me seriously think about faking a nosebleed myself and cancelling class. But I couldn't magically get my nose to start bleeding, so instead I sucked it up and went to class.

Predictably, Donnor didn't turn in his homework assignment. It was the sixth assignment in a row that he hadn't turned in, and I was at the end of my rope. If he didn't want to be in this class, he didn't have to be. He'd chosen to be here and if he was going to take my class, he was going to need to do the work.

"Mr. Dalman, why haven't you completed your assignment?" I demanded in front of the entire class.

"It was lame," Donnor replied. "Comparing and contrasting the muggle and wizarding versions of Christmas? Come on."

"Lame or not, that was the assignment," I informed him.

Personally I didn't think it was lame at all. There were a lot of interesting differences. But it wasn't for Donnor to decide whether an assignment was worth completing.

"What am I going to learn from it?" Donnor demanded. "That muggles are stupid and can't even agree on the purpose of a holiday they know nothing about? Father Christmas was a wizard."

I'd already been at the end of my rope with Donnor and his comment pushed me over the edge.

"If you're not going to hand in your assignments, then I'll see you in detention," I informed him. "Friday night. Seven o'clock."

"Fine," Donnor said, almost smugly, like he'd wanted this to happen. "See if I care."

Wednesday didn't fare any better. For one thing, it was my long day. For another thing, I had to do my night patrol with Alex, which was so much worse these days than night patrol with Tessa. He would always give me these looks, start to try to talk to me and then stop, as if he was struggling with something. I wished he would just leave things alone.

I caught a couple of second years out after hours. They claimed that they forgot the password to their common room and were waiting for someone to let them in. I didn't buy it. If that was the case, they could have banged on the door, called out for someone to let them in from the inside. It wasn't as though someone wouldn't be awake and in the common room. I could have docked points, but I decided that if I was already hosting detention Friday night, I may as well fill it up. I told them to be in my classroom at seven o'clock just like the others.

On Thursday, I ventured out of the castle towards the end of the afternoon to visit with Hagrid. I didn't stay long though. My mood had worsened throughout the week to the point that even Hagrid could barely tolerate me. He did mention that he'd given a couple of students detention and asked if I wouldn't mind adding them to my growing session for the following night.

"Sure, why not?" I agreed. It made no difference how many students sat my detention, and this left Hagrid with time to venture into the forest in search of more unicorns to harvest hair from for binding wounds.

When I awoke on Friday morning, I was not looking forward to running detention. Sitting in a room full of students that had misbehaved, when they would obviously rather be anywhere else was just about the last way anyone would want to spend their Friday night. And on top of that, Donnor Dalman was going to be there.

I had very little patience for my sixth years that morning. I'd told them about my idea for the assignment involving walking on crutches for a day and writing about their experience, and almost all my students were adamantly against it.

"There's too many stairs at Hogwarts!" one girl protested.

"We'll be late to all our classes," another student insisted.

I was tempted to give the two students detention just for arguing with me, but even I knew that would be pushing things. Headmaster Slinkhard would likely have something to say to me about giving out detentions for no reason if I did that.

I had the seventh years again that afternoon, and I ignored it when Donnor Dalman once again did not hand in his assignment. He was already in detention that night, and if he wanted to fail my class, that was fine. I knew he wanted to be an obliviator, and I knew he needed a N.E.W.T. in muggle studies to get it. I looked forward to failing him and seeing his dreams slip through his fingers.

My final class of the day were my fourth years. We were studying muggle currency, and I was so wound up at this point that I accidentally snapped at one boy for mixing up a twenty pence piece with a fifty pence piece. The denominations were on the coins for goodness' sake, how could he get them confused? After I snapped at him, the boy sitting beside him stood up and hurled an insult at me.

"Well if you weren't such a horrible teacher, then maybe he wouldn't have mixed them up!" he cried.

I gave him detention too.

I didn't have to supervise dinner, so I skipped the evening meal in favor of holing up in my office and grading more papers. At around quarter to seven, I emerged with the papers and set myself up at the desk at the front of my classroom. If I was going to supervise a detention, I was at least going to get something done while I did.

The second years I'd caught in the hallway after hours were the first to arrive. They sat down right at the back of the room, looking very uncomfortable and appropriately ashamed. I didn't recognize the next students to arrive and presumed they were the ones Hagrid had sent. Predictably, Donnor Dalman was the last to arrive, and five minutes late at that. I didn't comment on his tardiness though, knowing that I could keep him - all of them - as late as I wanted.

"So what do you want us to do?" Donnor demanded in his typical smug voice. "Or are we writing lines again?"

"No lines today," I declared. I didn't have the interest or the energy to come up with different sets of lines for each of my offenders to write. Instead, I'd decided to go with another traditional muggle detention - one that I'd served many times over the years. "I want you all to just sit there and think about what you've done. No talking, no magic, no homework."

"So you want us to do... nothing?" Kate frowned.

"That's right," I nodded.

"How is that productive?" Donnor demanded. "At least if we were cleaning bedpans in the hospital wing we'd be accomplishing something."

"I think this will accomplish plenty," I said.

I could tell that Donnor disagreed, but I didn't care about Donnor's opinion. Sitting and being unproductive was an effective punishment in the muggle world, and it would suffice for my students today.

I kept them all until curfew, letting them out with only five minute to get back to their respective common rooms. I could tell some of them were getting restless, but that was the point. I separated Kate and Philip about halfway through after I caught them whispering back and forth with each other. As they filed out of the room upon their dismissal, I could hear them grumbling among themselves, saying that my detention was pointless and unreasonably long. I didn't care. I'd hold another one next week for all the same students if they didn't get their acts together. They'd sit and stare at the wall for hours with only their thoughts to keep them company until it occurred to them to stop misbehaving and follow basic instructions.

And I'd waste every Friday night supervising detentions if it came to that. It wasn't as though I had anything else to do.


	40. Apology

Chapter 40: Apology

"Katie, can I have a word?"

I looked up from my work to find Cam hovering in the doorway. I shrugged.

"By all means," I said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of my desk.

Cam hovered for a moment more and then entered the room, taking a seat right on the edge of the chair, as if he were prepared to flee at any moment.

I waited for Cam to speak - he was the one who had come to talk to me after all - but when he didn't say anything, I got impatient.

"What do you want?" I asked, probably more harshly than I should have.

Cam flinched. I might have felt bad too, if I wasn't still in such a bad mood. This week had been no better than the last. Donnor Dalman continued to refuse to hand in his homework assignment, so he was already scheduled for detention with me Friday evening. I'd also caught some students duelling in the corridors and had issued them detentions as well.

"Well," he began hesitantly. "We've noticed that recently you've - "

"We?" I interrupted.

"I," Cam amended. "I've noticed. That recently you've been - well you haven't been yourself."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I bristled, already on edge.

"You can't deny that you've been a little... grumpier recently," Cam said.

"I'm not grumpy," I said, crossing my arms defensively. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Well you are acting differently - " Cam ventured.

"So what if I am?" I demanded.

Cam paused, clearly unprepared for my aggressive attitude.

"Well the students for one are getting a bit scared," he said. "Particularly the younger students. Do you really think alienating the first and second years now is going to make them want to take your class next year?"

"Well I'm sure I would care," I said. "If I thought I was going to be here next year. But I'm not, so it hardly matters."

"Oh," Cam frowned, clearly not expecting this response. "I thought you liked it here."

I shrugged, trying my best to be nonchalant about the whole thing. "My contract is only for one year," I said simply.

"I know," Cam nodded. "But I thought - well never mind I guess."

"Was that all?" I demanded, really not enjoying the direction this conversation was going. I'd already made the decision to distance myself from my friends here. My eyes had been opened to the true reality of things, and I wasn't going to let myself be hurt again. But the longer Cam stayed here trying to talk to me, the more I was at risk of breaking.

"Well not exactly," Cam shook his head. "I just get the sense that something might be wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing's wrong," I insisted. "I told you already, I'm just fine."

"Skye misses you," Cam said, or rather blurted out suddenly.

"I'm right here," I pointed out. If Skye wanted to talk to me, she could have come by my office.

"I know," Cam agreed. "But you're - forgive me for saying this, but you're kind of scary now."

"Scary?" I frowned. I knew I'd been a little more assertive and punitive with my students, but that was just because I needed them to take me seriously and not to think of me as the pushover muggle. But for Skye to be afraid of me too? Maybe I had gone a bit too far.

"You're pushing everyone away," Cam said. "And I'm here to ask you why. I know something happened between you and Alex - "

"Have you spoken to Alex?" I interrupted.

Cam nodded. "I have," he confirmed. "And he said - "

"Then you already know everything," I said, shutting him up before he got into the whole thing all over again. "After that, knowing what I know now, I don't think I can stick around here any longer than I have to."

"So that's it then?" Cam frowned. "You're just giving up?"

"It's not giving up," I defended myself. "It's just not worth it for me anymore. This isn't a fight I want to have."

I could see Cam fighting a grimace and I wished he could see things from my perspective. I was the one sacrificing herself here. I was the one in pain.

"I understand," he said. I could see he didn't mean it, but I appreciated the lie. "And I get why it might be hard to be around me or Skye. But keep in mind that we have nothing to do with what happened between you and Alex. You can push him away all you want - hell you can push me away if you need to - but don't push Skye away. She was really enjoying having a female friend in this place."

I swallowed as I took in what Cam was saying. He did have a point. What happened with Alex had nothing to do with Skye. When I'd been rejected, I'd made the unilateral decision that all magical people were the same, that they would all ultimately discriminate against me for my lack of magical ability. But Skye had never done anything to me, had never made any indication that she thought any less of me for being a muggle. It was unfair of me to freeze her out like I was doing.

I could feel a little bit of that hard exterior I'd spent the past while building up for myself start to melt away. I'd convinced myself that I had to spend the remainder of my contract here alone and friendless. But that wasn't the case. I could still have friends, I just had to surround myself with the people that actually wanted to be around me. I thought of Andromeda and her late husband. She'd married a muggle, so obviously it was possible for a magical and non-magical person to be involved with each other. It wasn't the whole population that was the problem, it was just certain people. I realized that I was discriminating by lumping Cam and Skye in with Alex.

"You're right," I finally agreed. "It was wrong of me to push her away. But after everything, I just thought - "

"I get it," Cam assured me. "And I get that it might be hard to be in the teacher's lounge right now, for example. But that doesn't mean you should just ignore everyone forever."

Cam was right. And he was right about another thing too. I couldn't avoid life here just because of one guy. Alex and I may never be friends again, but I was just as entitled to be in places like the teacher's lounge as him. Just because he was here first and he was a wizard didn't give him any more privileges than I had. We were both teachers here, we were equals.

While I hadn't changed my mind about leaving at the end of the year, I realized that I didn't have to be miserable until that time. I could still enjoy my time here and take advantage of the opportunities I was being presented. I could make the most of this chapter of my life while I waited for the next chapter to unfold.

"Thanks Cam," I said, attempting a smile. It felt strange. I hadn't smiled in over a week, and it felt foreign on my face. "I appreciate you coming to talk to me."

"Someone had to," Cam said. "And I love Skye too much to watch her tear herself apart over this."

"Is it really that bad?" I asked, suddenly worried. I'd been thinking so much about myself all this time, I hadn't even thought about how Skye would be feeling.

Cam made a face. "She thinks she did something wrong. I told her she didn't, but she's pretty upset."

I felt terrible. This was all my fault, not Skye's. She truly hadn't done anything apart from be a good friend. I'd judged her for Alex's actions, and that wasn't right.

"I need to talk to her," I said then.

Cam nodded. "She's on the quidditch pitch," he informed me.

KkKkKkKkKkK

Ten minutes later, I was crossing the grounds and stepping out onto the quidditch pitch in search of Skye. She was flying, currently just circling the hoops, throwing a quaffle through them, and then bolting to the other side to catch it before it hit the ground.

I knew when she saw me because she stiffened. But she kept flying for another twenty minutes before returning to the ground and landing near where I was standing.

"Hey Skye," I said tentatively, unsure what kind of mood I might have found her in.

"Hello," she responded stiffly. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Cam came to talk to me," I said, silently pleading with her to give me a chance to explain. I could see plainly that she was mad at me, and truly she had every right to be.

"Did he?" Skye asked, walking over to a nearby box, where she put the quaffle away.

I nodded. "He made me realize that I'd been acting - well that I've been acting poorly of late."

"It was news to you?" Skye inquired offensively.

I shook my head. "Not exactly," I admitted. "But I thought - well, it doesn't matter what I thought. What matters is that I was wrong."

I watched Skye wrestle with herself. I could tell a part of her wanted to forgive me and another part didn't.

"I'm sorry," I continued. "I messed up. I was hurting and I took it out on everyone. But you had nothing to do with what happened and I should never have punished you over it."

Skye's expression softened. "It's to do with Alex, isn't it?" she guessed.

I nodded.

"He's been pretty torn up," Skye informed me. "I don't know what happened with the two of you - "

"I don't really want to talk about it," I interjected. "Can we just say that things didn't work out and leave it at that?"

Skye was silent for a moment and then nodded. "If you ever do want to talk - "

"I'll let you know, I promise," I assured her. "Are we alright though?"

Skye paused, and it looked for a moment like she was thinking about the question. But then her face broke out into a wide smile and she walked over and threw her arms around me.

"Of course we're alright," she said. "I get it. You were hurting and you pushed people away."

"Exactly," I said, glad she understood.

"Just as long as you don't do it again," Skye said sternly.

"I promise," I said in relief.

And I meant it. I hadn't realized until this moment how important Skye's friendship was, but having to go without it had been hard and I didn't want to do it again.


	41. Ravenclaw vs Slytherin

Chapter 41: Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin

It was the day of the first quidditch game of the season. I was excited, because I'd never watched a real game before. I'd watched some practices, but if quidditch was anything like muggle sports, practices and games were two totally different things.

I dressed warmly, as it was November now and quite cold. Skye had explained that quidditch games had no set time limit, as they lasted until the snitch was caught. She assured me that games at Hogwarts had never gone on quite this long, but that some games could last days or even weeks. I didn't want to get cold and end up having to leave and miss everything, so I bundled, putting on two sweaters and then a jacket on top of that. Most of the staff and students wore cloaks over their robes, and while I could see that they would make things warmer, I also thought that the cloaks would be a lot more effective if there was a zipper on the front to prevent cold air from coming in.

As Skye had to act as referee during the game, I had made plans to sit alone for the match. Cam would be sitting with Alex and it would just be awkward to insert myself there. But as I was walking down to the pitch, I found my path blocked by a familiar and altogether unexpected face.

"Jordan!" I exclaimed, a mixture of emotions flooding through me. I immediately recalled the circumstances of our last encounter and felt my face heat up in embarrassment. "What are you doing here? Hufflepuff isn't playing today."

At Skye's meeting with the quidditch scouts, Jordan had expressed interest in one of the Hufflepuff players, but Ravenclaw and Slytherin were the two teams playing today. I hadn't thought I'd have to face Jordan for at least another month, if at all and certainly wasn't prepared to run into him today.

"I know," Jordan said. "But I thought I'd come by today anyway and check out some of the other players too. You never know, right? Maybe you've got someone here even better than the players we already have on our team that I could recruit."

"Sure," I nodded in agreement. I was feeling uncomfortable and wasn't sure how to proceed. The last I'd seen of Jordan, I'd been about to go home with him when I'd collapsed and he'd found out that I wasn't a witch like he'd thought, but a muggle. The last thing I remembered of him was the expression of shock and horror on his face upon finding this out. "Anyway, I should probably be go - "

"Are you headed to the match?" Jordan asked, interrupting me. "We could walk down together."

"Oh," I muttered. "Well yeah, I guess, sure."

Jordan fell into step beside me and we began to make our way towards the pitch in an awkward silence.

"Listen," I said finally, feeling like I needed to say something. "I want to apologize. I didn't mean to hide the fact that I was a muggle from you that night. It just never really came up and - "

"You don't need to apologize," Jordan assured me. "It's not like I asked or anything."

"Why would you?" I insisted. "You met me in a wizarding pub, I told you I work in a wizarding school where I'm the first muggle in history ever to work, I was there with Skye who is a witch..."

"That doesn't mean you're required to announce your non-magical status to everyone you meet," Jordan said. "But if I'd known, I'd never have given you those lobe-blasters. I'm surprised nobody warned you about wizarding drinks before letting you out like that."

"Yeah," I muttered awkwardly. Technically Skye had been the one to mess up in this regard, but she'd been punished enough already and I'd forgiven her. I didn't want to go digging all that up again, so I changed the subject. "Anyway, I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable, finding out about me. I know now that not all wizards want to be with muggles and I understand."

"What are you talking about?" Jordan frowned.

"Well - " I suddenly regretted going down this road, but also wanted to make sure the air was clear between us. "Just that I saw your face when you found out and I'm sorry that I led you on when you didn't know the whole truth about me. I'm sure if you'd known I was a muggle, you wouldn't have spared me a second thought."

We had reached the edge of the quidditch pitch, and as I approached the stairs that led up to the stands, Jordan stopped and grabbed my arm, causing me to stop as well. He pulled me back and out of the crowd, a strange look on his face.

"Katie the only thing I regret from that night is giving you those lobe-blasters," he said. "If I'd known you were a muggle, I'd have kept you drinking firewhisky or something less dangerous. If you saw anything on my face that night when I found out you were a muggle, it was terror that I'd unintentionally endangered you."

Now it was my turn to frown. I took a moment to process what Jordan was saying and found it difficult to wrap my head around.

"But we were going to - and I mean most of that was probably the effect of the lobe-blasters addling my brain, because I'd only just met you, and I don't normally go home with guys I've only just met - but you were going to take me home that night," I reminded him.

Jordan nodded. "And trust me, if I'd known how severely those lobe-blasters were affecting you, I wouldn't have been trying to take you home," he assured me. "But for a witch, two shots is hardly enough to not be in control of your decisions. I'm a decent guy."

"Right," I nodded. I wasn't upset with Jordan for trying to sleep with me. And it wasn't as though I hadn't been attracted to him. Even before the lobe-blasters, we'd been flirting pretty heavily and I'd definitely implied that I might have wanted to sleep with him at some point. "But... I'm a muggle."

"So what?" Jordan demanded.

"Don't you care?" I asked, confused.

"No," Jordan shook his head.

"Oh," I muttered. I opened and closed my mouth for a few moments, trying to find my words, but nothing would come out. This was not how I'd expected this conversation to go.

"Did you think I wouldn't like you because you're a muggle?" Jordan asked.

I shrugged. "Well not all wizards want to be with muggles," I explained. "I guess for some people it's something they just can't get past."

"Well I'm not one of those wizards," Jordan assured me. "I actually like you. Even knowing that you're a muggle."

"You do?" I asked, surprised and feeling a sudden onset of a silly kind of happy. "It doesn't bother you that I can't do magic?"

"Why would it?" Jordan asked. "I can do magic enough for the both of us."

"Huh." I rolled this all around in my head and couldn't help the smile that broke out across my face. I'd been more wrong than I'd thought. It wasn't all witches and wizards that had issues with muggles. When Cam had come to talk to me, I'd thought that perhaps there was a line between friendships and relationships that I'd missed - that I could have witch and wizard friends, but that I simply wouldn't be able to date a wizard. But Jordan was making it clear now that this whole time it had been solely Alex' problem.

"Do you need me to prove it?" Jordan asked.

Before I could respond, he pushed me further away from the crowd of students pouring down to the quidditch pitch and out of sight of any onlookers. Then he reached for my face, tilted my chin up and covered my lips with his, kissing me just like he had that night at the club, except that I would actually remember this kiss in full rather than just a few foggy bits. I kissed him back for a few seconds until he pulled away and then just looked up at him as he smiled down on me.

There'd been none of the hesitation that I'd experienced with Alex, and even now , I could see no regret or disappointment in his face. My heart soared.

Then suddenly I felt shy again. I realized that I'd been rather forward with Alex that night at the Leaky Cauldron, but that had been with a couple of firewhiskys in me and with Skye encouraging me to go for it. Now it was the middle of the day, we were surrounded by my students and colleagues, and I was completely sober.

"Do you - do you maybe want to watch the match with me?" I asked hopefully.

Jordan grinned. "Sure," he agreed. "Officially, that is why I'm here."

"And unofficially?" I inquired, noting his phrasing.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," he informed me.

Despite the cold, these words made me feel warm and fuzzy. "I'm okay now," I smiled.

"Good," Jordan replied, taking my hand and leading me back towards the stairs and up to the section of the stands reserved for staff and parents and scouts.

The game was about to begin, and we didn't have a chance to talk much more before Skye strode out onto the pitch with a box that I knew to contain the four quidditch balls. The crowd hushed, and then the teams emerged and the students began cheering for their respective teams. I noted that Ravenclaw got more cheers than Slytherin did. Then the crowd hushed once more as the players took up their positions and Skye released first the golden snitch, then the two bludgers, and finally lobbed the quaffle into the air, marking the start of the match.

Everything happened so fast, I had trouble keeping up at first. Jordan had to point out different things to me, focusing my attention on where the action was. It wasn't like in muggle football where you just followed the one ball back and forth across the field. Here I was trying to keep an eye on the quaffle while also watching the beaters whack around those bludgers all without missing it anytime a seeker went into a dive or shot across the pitch in pursuit of the snitch.

At one point, I looked over to my left and saw Alex sitting with Cam. He glanced my way and shot a dark look at Jordan and I immediately looked away hurt. It was one thing for him not to want to be with me, but to be disgusted at the sight of me with Jordan just because I was a muggle was too much. I determined to just ignore his presence and his opinions. I didn't need him dragging me down anymore.

In the end, Slytherin won the match. The cheers they received upon their victory were loud and raucous and I figured I'd probably misjudged the cheers at the opening of the game.

With the game over, I found myself turning to Jordan, wondering what his next move would be. He'd kissed me earlier, and while I didn't want to read into that, I also found it hard not to. Was there something here, or was he just being nice?

"Do you have to head out now?" I heard myself asking.

Jordan shrugged. "I don't have plans or anything," he said. "But the match is over - I'm sure you have responsibilities to get to."

"I don't actually," I informed him.

Normally I wouldn't make myself seem so available, but I wanted to make sure that I was clear with him this time around. And I did kind of want him to stick around a little longer.

"Well then," Jordan smiled at me. "Maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere that isn't full of students?"

I swallowed, immediately understanding his insinuation and knowing that I'd led him here.

"I might need a drink or two," I admitted. "No lobe-blasters or anything, but a firewhisky or two would be good." Not to mention it was still only late afternoon and it wouldn't be very classy of me to invite Jordan back to my quarters at four-thirty in the afternoon.

"I know a spot in Hogsmeade," Jordan said then. "Would you like to accompany me for a little food and drink?"

"I'd love to," I said with a grin.


	42. One Night Stand

Chapter 42: One Night Stand

I'd never heard of _Onyx_ before. Whenever I'd been to Hogsmeade previously, I'd always gone to _The Three Broomsticks_.

_Onyx_ was a much more high-scale establishment, with a cocktail bar as well as a separate dining room with low, romantic lighting and flowers on all the tables.

It was all a little overwhelming. I didn't feel at all dressed for such an occasion. I'd been more dressed up for my date with Alex, and he'd only taken me to _The Three Broomsticks_.

"You look great," Jordan assured me, leading me over to the cocktail bar and ordering us a couple of drinks. I didn't recognize the name of the drink he ordered for me, but he nodded at me reassuringly when it came and I trusted that it wouldn't have any negative effects like the lobe-blasters.

"So you're a muggle?" Jordan asked then, conversationally.

I nodded, immediately tensing up. My non-magical status was a touchy issue with me, especially these days, and I worried where Jordan might be going with his statement. He'd said he didn't care that I was a muggle, that it made no difference to him. But what if that had been all talk.

"I am," I confirmed in a hard voice. "So what?"

Jordan shrugged. "Well I'm just curious," he said. "How did you end up here? There's not a lot of muggles teaching at Hogwarts, after all."

I immediately relaxed. He wasn't judging me for being a muggle, he was just curious. And who wouldn't be? I was an anomaly.

"It's actually quite the story," I said, launching into the tale. "I applied for the job online, but I had no idea what I was applying for..."

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, I told Jordan the whole story, and he listened in rapt attention, soaking in my every word. It was nice, having 100% of someone's attention like this.

When Jordan's hand came to rest on my knee, I found myself leaning forward, shifting my leg so that his hand slid further up my thigh. I leaned over so far I almost fell off my chair and had an embarrassing moment where I had to lean back and rebalance.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Jordan asked then, gesturing to the dining room.

I knew the classy thing to do would be to allow Jordan to buy me dinner. We'd sit and eat, I'd ask about his work as a quidditch scout, find out what he did when he wasn't visiting wizarding schools to scope out their players. He'd walk me back up to the castle and when I invited him back to my quarters, I could at least say that we'd gone out on a proper date before sleeping together. But I was thinking about when Jordan had kissed me earlier before the quidditch game, and all I wanted was to kiss him again. That and so much more.

"I'm not really hungry," I said in a low voice, staring at him intently.

I watched Jordan's eyes turn dark at my words. "Yeah, neither am I," he admitted.

By mutual agreement, we stood up, Jordan paid our tab, and he led me out of _Onyx_ and down the lane back towards the castle.

The walk back to my quarters was excruciatingly long, but we made it. I knew that if we stopped along the way, we might end up in a broom closet or something and I didn't want the embarrassment of being discovered by another teacher on patrol.

As soon as we were inside, Jordan shoved me up against the wall, and then his mouth was on mine. There was nothing slow or tentative about his kiss and I was glad for it. I pressed myself right up against him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him as close as possible.

In no time, my shirt was off, and then I was pulling his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the floor as we came together again, skin against skin, and I pulled his tongue into my mouth, sucking on it as if my life depended on it.

I didn't know what had come over me. I wasn't normally this forward, and I certainly didn't usually go home with guys on the first date, or in this case, before the first date. But something about Jordan just drew me to him and I couldn't help myself. I wanted him and I wanted him now.

It didn't take long before we were both in my bedroom, tumbling onto the bed and shedding the remainder of our clothes. His hands were everywhere and it was at about this point that I lost the ability to speak, to think, to do anything but just feel.

KkKkKkKkKkK

There was someone in my bed.

Groggily, I turned over and opened my eyes and tried to identify the figure sleeping next to me.

Suddenly, it all came rushing back and I felt my face heat up.

Jordan.

I'd slept with Jordan last night.

And now he was here. In my bed. Asleep.

Last night I'd been interested in doing one thing: sleeping with Jordan. I'd been intoxicated by him, intoxicated by the idea that someone was interested in me. But now, in the light of day, with the Sunday morning sun streaming in through the window, all I could think was what a terrible idea this had been.

I should have insisted on having dinner first. I should never have brought him back to my quarters so soon. He was going to get the wrong impression of me. He was going to think I was the kind of girl that was only interested in him for one thing. And I wasn't. I just got carried away last night.

Or did I? Did I even like Jordan?

Jordan's biggest draw had always been that he was interested in me. After what happened with Alex, I'd been convinced that no wizard would ever be interested in me and that I would have to wait until I returned to the muggle world to have any chance at dating or love. But then Jordan had told me that it didn't matter that I was a muggle, that he was interested in me anyway, and it had given me hope.

I barely knew Jordan. I knew he was a quidditch scout, but apart from that, I knew precious little. I knew more about Alex than I did about Jordan, which was pointless since I had no future with Alex. I frowned over at Jordan's sleeping form and realized that I actually had no interest in getting to know him. He was attractive, and I'd enjoyed sleeping with him. But I didn't want to sit across from him and ask about his family, learn how many siblings he had, whether his parents were together or not. I just didn't care.

As I had this realization, I also had another. I'd just had my first one-night stand.

I didn't feel quite as ashamed as I thought I might. People had one-night stands all the time. It was healthy, even. He'd made me feel good about myself, we'd had some fun, and now we never had to see each other again.

Except that we did.

And that was the problem.

Jordan worked with Skye. He was looking to possibly recruit a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team for his team. He would be back at Hogwarts at least one more time to see the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff game. If he liked the player he was here to watch, he'd come for the other Hufflepuff games. He'd be around periodically throughout the remainder of the year, and each time I would have to see him and pretend like this had never happened. Or would he want to do this every time he came to visit the school? Had I created expectations now? Would he expect me to sleep with him again the next time he was at Hogwarts? Because I wasn't sure that I wanted that kind of relationship.

Overwhelmed by my thoughts, I got up and headed into the bathroom to take a shower and clear my head where he wasn't lying right next to me. The water was soothing, and though my thoughts were still all over the place when I got out, I was a little more relaxed than when I'd first woken up.

"Good morning," Jordan greeted me when I returned to the bedroom to find him awake, though still lying down.

"Good morning," I replied, opening my dresser to rifle through my clothing options.

"You got breakfast to supervise or something?" Jordan asked.

I shook my head. "No," I replied. "But I've got a lot of work to do today. I've got essays to grade and lesson plans to finalize, not to mention hours of patrols later tonight."

"But no patrols this morning," Jordan surmised. "Grading papers can wait."

He gestured to the bed in a way that said that he wanted me to get back in with him. And while a part of me really wanted to, a bigger part of me wanted to get on with my day and for him to leave before Skye or Cam or anyone saw him.

"Sorry, but I just have too much to do," I informed him, grabbing his pants off the floor and tossing them at him. "Get dressed. I'm sure you have better things to do today than lie there."

"I really don't," Jordan said, a smirk on his face. "I don't have to be back at work until Monday morning. I've got all day."

"Well, you're not spending it here," I muttered.

Jordan's mood shifted then.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. "You were into me last night, but now you won't even look at me? Is this a muggle thing?"

I spun around angrily. "A muggle thing?" I parroted back. "What exactly does that mean?"

"I don't know," Jordan said. "I thought we were getting along. I thought you had a good time last night. You were the one that wanted to come back here. We could have just eaten dinner."

I sighed. "I'm sorry," I apologized, realizing that I was being unfair. I was all over the place, how was Jordan supposed to keep up? "I don't usually do... this."

Jordan's frown relaxed into an understanding expression. "I get it," he said. "But there's no need to feel weird. I, for one, had a great time and would love to see you again sometime. But if you aren't interested, then I can respect that too."

"I honestly don't know right now," I admitted.

"That's fine too," Jordan assured me. He swung his legs off the bed and stood as he began to pull his pants on. "I'll be back in a few weeks for the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff game. Maybe we can talk then?"

I nodded. I at least owed Jordan an answer as to what it was I wanted. I just wasn't sure I knew what that was right now.

Jordan stepped towards me then and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me flush against him. I made a sound of surprise, but didn't object as he leaned down and kissed me.

It wasn't like last night, when our kisses had been hungry and messy. This kiss was tamer, though it was still firm and confident, just like Jordan.

When we parted, I was just a little breathless.

"See you around," he said.

And then he strolled out of my bedroom and into the living room, where he picked up his shirt, threw it over his head, and then left, exiting into the corridor, the portrait of Mr. Marshall closing the door behind him.


	43. Performance Review

Chapter 43: Performance Review

Skye was waiting for me in the Great Hall. I'd spent the rest of my morning in my quarters, reading and trying not to overanalyze my night with Jordan. But I had to supervise lunch, and so I couldn't hibernate in my quarters all day long.

"You slept with Jordan last night," she immediately accused me, before I'd even taken a seat.

"W-what?" I faltered, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. How did Skye know? "No, I didn't."

"Then why did I see him leaving the castle this morning?" Skye demanded.

I shrugged, trying, and yet knowing I was failing to hide the truth. "I don't know," I muttered. "He could have been here for any number of reasons."

"Don't try and fool me," Skye rolled her eyes. "You two were chummy at the game yesterday, and then you both disappeared pretty quickly afterward. I can put two and two together."

"Don't tell anyone," I pleaded. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Skye smirked, clearly proud of herself from getting my confession.

"How was it?" she asked, lowering her voice to an excited whisper. "I bet it was good."

I felt my face heat up at her question. I looked away, feeling uncomfortable with direct eye contact.

"It certainly wasn't bad," I allowed.

"Are you going to do it again?" Skye wondered.

I sighed. "I don't' know," I admitted. "He sort of implied that he would want to, but..."

"But what?" Skye demanded. "He's hot. If I wasn't with Cam - "

"Don't even finish that sentence," I warned her.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "Cam would understand. But this isn't about me. It's about you."

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. "I don't know Skye. I just don't know. I don't know what I want."

"You don't want Jordan," Skye said then. "You're not interested in him."

"It's not that I'm not interested..." I said hesitantly, unsure what it was that was nagging at the back of my mind.

"You're still hung up on Alex," Skye stated.

I frowned. "That's not it," I protested immediately. "I'm not - "

"You are," Skye insisted. "I can see it all over your face. You wish it had been him last night, and not Jordan."

I let her words wash over me, and then I felt it, deep down. I still had feelings for Alex. I didn't want to. He certainly didn't have feelings for me. There was no future there. In fact, I should hate him for what he'd put me through. And yet, a part of me still liked him. A part of me still wanted to be with him. And that was why I felt so weird about sleeping with Jordan.

"You're right," I realized. "I still like Alex."

"Are you sure you couldn't try working things out with - "

"No way," I shook my head. Skye didn't know the full story of what had happened with Alex, and I didn't feel like sharing it. Needless to say, if I still had feelings for Alex, it was something I was going to have to work through because _THAT_ was never going to happen.

I sighed.

"Why is my life so complicated?" I groaned.

Skye reached out a hand and placed it on my shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sorry Katie," she said sadly. "But it'll get better. You just have to work on getting over him. It'll take time, but it'll happen.

"How do I even go about doing that?" I asked desperately.

Skye smirked. "You could always sleep with Jordan again," she said, waggling her eyebrows.

I couldn't help it. I let out a laugh.

"You're terrible," I said, slapping Skye playfully on the arm.

"At least you're smiling," Skye commented.

She was right. And these feelings for Alex - I'd be a fool if I expected them to just go away because I'd been rejected. Feelings take longer than that. I'd hidden the fact that I still liked him from myself by masking it with rage. But now that I was aware of my own feelings, I could work on them. It would take time as Skye said, but acknowledgment was the first step.

KkKkKkKkKkK

Monday morning I arrived at my classroom to find a surprise guest waiting for me.

"Headmaster Slinkhard!" I exclaimed, caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Harris," he greeted me, rising from the chair behind my desk. "Good morning. Now that you've been with us for almost three months, the time has come for your performance review."

"Performance review?" I frowned, not recalling any previous mention of such a thing.

The Headmaster nodded. "It was all in your contract," he assured me. "Don't worry, it's nothing too scary. Essentially I will be sitting in on a lesson to evaluate your teaching capabilities."

"And if I fail?" I asked, suddenly nervous. Could I fail a performance review? What even were the criteria?

"In the unfortunate case where a professor does not pass their performance review, they are not permitted to return to teach the second term. A suitable replacement will be found and the teacher in question leaves the school at the start of the Christmas holidays. However, if I'm right, then you have nothing to worry about."

"I could be fired?" I asked, not recalling reading about any of this in my contract. I'd thought I'd signed on for a full year, no matter what.

"I prefer to call it being let go," Headmaster Slinkhard said. "But yes, in theory, you could be fired."

I thought about this. Suddenly so many possibilities swam across my mind. After the disastrous date with Alex, I'd thought I would be stuck here in this castle until the end of the year, having to see him in the halls and in the Great Hall, walk patrols with him and sit in the teacher's lounge with him. I was stuck here until the end of June. But now Headmaster Slinkhard was offering me an out.

I could fail my evaluation today and be gone by Christmas. I could be back in my own world, with my family and friends, people who knew me and accepted me, and were like me. This whole foray into the world of magic could be a memory by the New Year. I wouldn't have to deal with all the anti-muggle prejudice, I wouldn't have to fight with my students, or feel my heart twinge from the sting of rejection when Alex would walk into a room. I wouldn't have to think about Tessa Flitwick or Donnor Dalman, wouldn't have to worry about what people really thought of me, wouldn't be constantly on edge. I wouldn't be in danger of running into a rogue spell in the hallway, wouldn't end up almost giving myself brain damage from drinks I didn't know the contents of. I wouldn't have to deal with any of it anymore. It could be perfect.

But was that what I wanted? I had no future here. I already knew I wasn't going to renew my contract. Sure I had Skye here, and I would miss her if I left, but what else did I really have? The longer I stayed here, the more I prolonged the chance to start my real life, back in my world.

It seemed that my mind was made up.

"If you could just give me a moment to prepare for my lesson, Headmaster," I requested, walking towards my office.

"Of course," Headmaster Slinkhard nodded. "I shall get myself situated at the back of the classroom. I believe your students are about to start arriving."

I slipped into my office and shut the door behind me. I took a deep breath and then hurried over to my desk to see what was on the schedule for this morning. I had my third years, and they were learning about muggle games. Today we were supposed to be learning about jump rope. I'd planned on pushing the desks and chairs to the sides of the room and setting up a few students with jump ropes to teach them the technique.

That was going to have to change. If I was going to get fired over this, I had to make this my worst performance yet.

I pushed the box of rope that I'd procured back under my desk, knowing that I couldn't turn this into a practical lesson. And that was when it came to me: the perfect lesson to get myself fired. It would be a total topic change, but who cared at this point? I didn't owe anyone here anything. My students didn't care about the subject, most of the teachers considered it a pretty much pointless elective, filler for the timetables of the students who wanted to coast. Truly, I didn't even understand why this subject was still taught at Hogwarts, considering how useless everyone thought of it. A course like mine could have value, of course, but only if wizards attributed value to it. Until then, I may as well have been talking to the wind all term.

I walked back out into the classroom as the last of my students were settling in. Headmaster Slinkhard was seated at the back of the room in a chair that he'd clearly conjured for himself. It was a large comfortable-looking armchair and I was immediately jealous that he got to sit on the plush cushions while I had to either sit on wooden chairs all day or else stand at the front of my classes. Not for much longer, though, my brain reminded me.

"All right class," I said, drawing everyone's attention. "Now I know we've been talking about muggle games this month, but as we have a special guest with us today, I thought we'd talk about something different today. Muggle weaponry."

I watched Headmaster Slinkhard frown and I couldn't help the small smile that pulled at my lips.

"Muggles have a vast amount of technology at their disposal," I continued. "And they continue to push the boundaries of science every day, developing new weapons every day, more and more deadly than the last. From guns to bombs to nuclear weapons, muggles today are better at killing than ever before. And they do kill, every day. Muggles are terrified of anyone different from them. It's why they have so many wars. They kill each other because they don't understand each other because someone else is living life in a way unfamiliar to them. They'll kill over religion, politics, ways of life that they don't agree with."

"And this is why it's more important than ever that you keep your existence a secret," I declared. "If the muggles find out about magic, they'll destroy it. They'll come after you with their guns and shoot you down. They'll target schools like Hogwarts, and villages like Hogsmeade, even places like Diagon Alley if they can find it. And they'll find it. They'll target you with bombs, destroy everything you hold dear. They'll get rid of you because they don't understand you, because you live differently than them and because they're scared of you. And your magic won't save you. Sure, you might take down a few of them with you, but when the nuclear bombs go off, nobody will be safe. They'll kill themselves along with you if it means extermination."

"So stay away. Keep separate. Don't let them know you exist. Stay far away from them. Let them live their lives, and you go on living your lives. There's no need to intermingle. Marry amongst yourselves. Don't risk letting them into your world. And in turn, in their ignorance, they'll leave you alone. You think you're taking this class to learn how to interact with muggles? You're wrong. You're taking this class to learn how to keep away. You're learning how not to draw attention to yourselves. The point of this class isn't to improve wizard-muggle interactions, but to make sure that wizard-muggle interactions can be avoided."

I looked over at Headmaster Slinkhard and he looked appropriately alarmed. Good.

"Class is dismissed," I declared then, even though it hadn't even been ten minutes. "Go think about what I've said. And for homework, I want an essay from every one of you on how to best stay away from the muggle world. Be thorough. Your life may depend on it."

For a moment, my third years all sat in stunned silence. Then, one by one, they began to push their chairs back, stand up, and file out of the room.

If this had been my sixth or seventh years, they would have had questions, talked back, argued with me. But my third years were too scared to say anything, I could see it in their faces.

When the room was cleared and it was just me and the Headmaster, I took a deep breath, ready for what came next.

"My office," Headmaster Slinkhard declared. "One hour."


End file.
